A Decembers Love
by Auror Lupin
Summary: *FINISHED*Severus and Lily get stuck tutoring eachother. But what begins as a mutual hatred grows into something unexpected. What happens when romances die, people get torn appart, and the aftermath of a tragedy.
1. Chapter One

I don't own any of the Harry Potter Characters. I just like to borrow them every once in a while.  
  
(A/N: Well, I decided to take a break on my Silver to Bind the Fey fic I'm writing cause I'm kinda burnt out on it. This came as a spur of the moment thing, I don't know if I'm going to keep it. What do you think? Please R/R)  
  
  
  
You might recognize this from elsewhere. I wrote it a while back on my CreamyCoconut43 penname but I forgot the password and im moving all my fics here sorry for the confusion lol  
  
A December's Love  
  
  
  
Severus Snape walked through the Hallways of Hogwarts the way he did since his first year-with his head down, not making contact with anyone. Although he had changed from the scrawny little rat of a first year he was five years ago physically, he still remained as cold and distant as he was then. He had grown taller and more toned, a few girls even found is stark features to be attractive. His personality however, still left much to be desired. He hid himself behind a mask of cruelty and smugness and that was what he showed the world. And it suited him just fine.  
  
He made his way down the steps to the second floor. He was on his way to his favorite class, Defense Against the Dark Arts. He excelled in it, it was one of the few things he did well. Not even the fact that had to share the class with the Gryffindors for the past five years could ruin it for him.  
  
"Speaking of Gryffindors, where are those idiot Marauders." he thought to himself. As if on cue, he felt a sharp push from behind that caught him off balance. He lost his footing and tripped, falling down the hard wooden steps and landing in a heap outside of the DADA door. The hooting laughter behind him left no room to wonder who pushed him.  
  
"Aw, Sevvy you should watch yourself, these steps can be tricky you know, you could have hurt someone on your way down." came a voice from the top of the steps. James Potter of course.  
  
"Maybe the grease from your hair is affecting how your brain is working." And that would be his little sidekick Sirius Black. Severus pulled himself up and dusted the dirt from his robes.  
  
He had of course, been right. On their way down the stairs were the idiot burgade. Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and James Potter, of course with his girlfriend Lily Evans hanging on his arm. They all had on their maroon and gold ties under their black Gryffindor robes. Severus' eyes flicked to Lily's prefect badge pinned high on her shoulder, and then down to his. All the boys were still smiling about Severus' no doubt humorous fall down the stairs. Lily however, gave Severus a look of sympathy. "Damn her too," he thought, "I don't need pity from a Gryffindor Mudblood."  
  
"I've noticed you're flying skills are improving Black, perhaps James' little Mudblood is giving you some tips on how to ride, if you know what I mean. Better watch it Lily, Black's head might swell as big as your boyfriends. Then nobody will be able to make their way through the hallways." he spat, picking up his books and walking into the classroom before James could smash his head in for that little remark, ignoring the hurt expression on Lily's face.  
  
Angrily, Severus threw his books down on the front table next to Lucius Malfoy.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" asked Lucius upon seeing his friend's angry expression.  
  
"Those damn Gryffindors. I hate them all." Severus spat as the Professor started the lesson. They were going to be learning how to handle a Kappa. "Oh how peachy." thought Severus as the Professor began explaining the lesson plan.  
  
"Don't worry about the Gryffindors Severus. They're just a bunch of Mudbloods and Muggle lovers. They're trash." Lucius said, scribbling down some notes on his parchment.  
  
"I'm sorry to interrupt your class Professor, but can I please see Mr. Snape and Miss. Evans in my office for a moment please?" Headmaster Dumbledore stood at the door, smiling at the two of them. Ignoring the odd looks from the rest of the class, the two students made their way out of the class.  
  
"You're not in any sort of trouble I assure you." said Dumbledore, seeing their expressions. They walked in silence for a while before Lily glanced at Severus out of the corner of her eye. "Why does he always walk with his head down? Why is he keeping so much distance between us?" Lily thought. Severus glanced up to see Lily observing him.  
  
"What?" he snapped angrily. Lily looked startled at his attitude.  
  
"Nothing." she said looking straight ahead again.  
  
Dumbledore opened his office door and pointed to the two seats in front of his large mahogany desk. Severus and Lily took the seats and waited patiently.  
  
"Well, I would like to inform you too that you both are seriously being considered for Head Boy and Head Girl next year." Dumbledore said. Lily let out an excited squeak and Severus smiled one of his seldom true smiles.  
  
"However, two things are endangering that. For you Miss Evans it is your DADA grade. You have very high marks in everything else, but you are failing that." Lily's smile erased quickly.  
  
"Sir the thing is, I'm having some trouble with the subject." she told him.  
  
"I know Miss Evans, let me finish. For you Mr. Snape, you're Transfiguration grade is endangering you. I've spoken to Professor McGonagall and she said its not that you don't try, you just don't seem to be grasping the material" Severus nodded in agreement. Dumbledore looked at the two for a moment before clasping his hands together and smiling.  
  
"Well, I'm going to make a logical decision. One that I'm sure you will find beneficial to the both you. Mr. Snape I would like you to tutor Miss Evans in Defense Against the Dark Arts. As I see from your records, you seem to have a knack for it. Likewise, Miss Evans you're strong point seems to be Transfuguration. You in turn will be tutoring Mr. Snape."  
  
"But sir! You...you can't DO that!" Severus hissed.  
  
"Oh, but I am, you can use the empty room in the corridor on the 3rd floor. You are excused from the rest of this period so you two can set up a lesson plan. You both may leave now, have a nice day." Lily and Severus recovered from their shock enough to leave the office. Lily trailed next to Severus who looked extremely peeved at the moment.  
  
"Look, I don't like it any better than you do." she told him. He stopped suddenly and turned to her, eyes blazing.  
  
"Yes I know, your idiot friends won't want you to stoop as low as to spend time with a greasy Slytherin." he spat. Lily just stared at him, surprised.  
  
"That's not what I meant." she said softly.  
  
"I'm sure it wasn't." he answered before continuing on his way to the third floor.  
  
"And I'm sure you little cronies are going to love the fact that you are spending time with the likes of a Mudblood." Lily stated sarcastically.  
  
"That is not part of the lesson plan we are forced to discuss at the moment." Severus said, swinging open the door to the designated classroom. It was empty except for two candlesticks on a desk in the middle of the room.  
  
"So how are we going to go about doing this?" he asked, taking a seat opposite Lily at the table.  
  
"Well I can tutor you and then you can tutor me the next day, so it's kind of like an every other day thing." Lily offered. Severus nodded in agreement. "Well there's a start, at least he didn't snap at me." she thought.  
  
"What exactly do you have a problem with in DADA?" he asked taking out a quill and a spare piece of parchment.  
  
"Well, I suck at dueling, I'm not too great with curses and counter curses, the animals are a little bit of a problem-"  
  
"So pretty much everything." Severus cut her off. She glared at him for a moment.  
  
"Yeah, I guess. What are you having trouble with in Transfiguration?" Lily asked. Severus thought for a while.  
  
"Everything." he said plainly.  
  
"Well, I guess that's one thing we have in common." Lily offered. He smiled a sort of half smile, and Lily couldn't help but noticed he looked charming when he wasn't sneering or snapping at people.  
  
"Okay so how about tomorrow, we'll start with dueling." Severus asked.  
  
"That sounds good to me. And the day after we can start with the basic Transfiguration techniques." Lily said. Severus nodded and the both of them started jotting down some notes on their parchment.  
  
"Listen, I'm sorry about what James and Sirius did to you today." Lily said suddenly, putting her quill down and looking at Severus.  
  
"Ah, making excuses for your beloved how sweet." Severus said sarcastically.  
  
"I'm not making excuses for him, I'm just saying it was wrong of him to do it."  
  
"Yes it was." he said nonchalantly  
  
"Well, aren't you going to apologize for what you said?" she asked.  
  
"No I am not." he said, finally looking up from the paper. Upon seeing her hurt expression he added, "maybe what I said about you and Black wasn't true." Lily decided that was the closest she'd get to an apology from him and decided not to push it any further.  
  
"Well if we're going to work together for a while don't you think we should learn a little bit about each other?" she asked after a few minuets of silence.  
  
"I know enough about you." he said coolly.  
  
"You don't know anything about me." Lily challenged. Severus looked up and smiled again.  
  
"You're name is Lily Marie Evans, you're parents are Muggles, you live in London, you're an only child, and you're favorite color is green but you'd never admit it since it's a Slytherin color, you're a virgin, and you're favorite past time is watching Quidditch." he said, giving her a cocky look.  
  
"How did you know all that!?" asked Lily, amazed.  
  
"I'm not as stupid as I look." he simply said.  
  
"Well, tell me a little bit about yourself." she asked. He gave a little snort and answered in a sarcastic tone.  
  
"You don't care about my life Lily, don't pretend like you do."  
  
"Maybe you just don't want to open up to anyone." Lily pressed. Severus suddenly looked angry.  
  
"Maybe there's a reason for that, but since you seem so interested in my life maybe I will tell you. My middle name is Orion, my parents were both pure blood wizards. My dad ran off after my younger bother was born and my mom started drinking. She got so drunk one day that she look it out on my brother, he died almost instantly after she hit his across the head with a cooking pan. I was four. I got carted around to various relatives until the time that I was eleven and got my letter from Hogwarts. There, now you can go and tell your buddies so all of you could feel better knowing that you have had a better life than me." he spat. Lily sat stunned for a few moments. It was amazing how quickly this guy could switch moods. One minute he's semi nice the next he's biting her head off.  
  
"I'm sorry." she said.  
  
"Don't worry about it."  
  
"Is that what you think I'm going to do?"  
  
"What?" Severus asked confused.  
  
"Go tell Sirius, Remus, James, and Peter everything you tell me." Lily asked.  
  
"I wouldn't be surprised." Severus said dejectedly.  
  
"Then perhaps you don't know me as well as you think you do." They sat in silence for a few more minuets until the bell rang.  
  
"I'll see you tomorrow?" Lily asked.  
  
"Yes, you will." 


	2. Chapter Two

For the rest of the day, Severus walked around with a weird feeling in his stomach. Something was different, but he couldn't exactly put a finger on what it was. He seemed strangely...happy. Which was really weird because any other day, he would have thrown himself off the Astronomy Tower had he been forced to work with Lily Evans. She was a lot different than the opinion Severus had held of her up until that day. He had pictured her to be a cocky, stuck up little Mudblood. But in fact she was sort of nice, sort of quiet. She was actually rather attractive in her own way. Her straight red hair matched her expressive green eyes. Severus couldn't seem to get Lily out of his mind. Usually, when the thought of her came into his head, an automatic sneer wold come across his features, but now it was a thoughtful expression.  
  
"Sev, what what's up with you and the Mudblood?" Lucius asked, as he took his seat next to Severus, for dinner in the Great Hall.  
  
"We have to tutor each other." Severus told him, doing his best to put on a disgusted look, and grabbed a roll from the tray in front of them.  
  
"Oh that sucks, I wouldn't do it man. You couldn't get me to go near that trash for a lifetime supply of Chocolate Frogs." Lucius said, taking a bite out of his roast pork.  
  
"Well I don't have much of a choice, now do I? And you don't even like Chocolate Frogs! Severus said.  
  
"It's just a figure of speech. But I have something more important to talk to you about." Lucius said, dropping the volume of his voice to almost a whisper.  
  
"Ooooh, secretive." Severus said, rolling his eyes but leaning in to hear him better.  
  
"You've heard of Voldermort, haven't you?" Lucius asked, his eyes shining.  
  
"Of course I have. I don't live with Muggles you know." Severus said.  
  
"Well, he's been gathering some witches and wizards that think he has the right idea. You know, get rid of the Muggle and Mudblood trash that infects this world. A bit of ethnic cleansing if you will. They call themselves Death Eaters"  
  
"And....?"  
  
"And I think that I just might join him." Lucius whispered. Severus' eyes shot open and he popped right out of his seat.  
  
"Lucius you git! Are you crazy!?" he shrieked, drawing weird looks from a few other members of the Slytherin table. NOBODY talked like that to Lucius Malfoy. Severus was the only one who got away with it, since he was the closest to a best friend that either boy had.  
  
"Sit down! You idiot." Lucius hissed, grabbing Severus by the shoulder and forcing him back into his seat.  
  
"Lucius, you've got to be kidding me! The Ministry has got almost every Auror they have out there looking for these people!" Severus whispered.  
  
"Exactly, which means they must actually mean business. Next year I'll be out of here, and I have every intention of helping him in his cause. You should too. You know you feel the same way." Lucius said, almost proudly.  
  
"I never said I want to go kill a bunch of Mudbloods just for kicks." he hissed.  
  
"Relax, I'm just saying think about it." Lucius said, returning his attention once more to his roast beef. Severus stared at his food for a while, pushing it around with his fork. He wasn't hungry. He was about to get up when he felt someone slide into the seat next to him and tap him on the shoulder. It was a girl he could tell because there wasn't much space there.  
  
"Hi Severus." he turned around expecting to see that damn Ashley Jenkins. Gods, that girl stalked him and Lucius! He turned his head and his jaw almost dropped in disbelief. Lily Evans was sitting at the Slytherin table. About half the table looked as surprised as Severus did. Gryffindors NEVER even came over to talk to someone at the Slytherin table let alone, SIT at it.  
  
"What are you doing here Mudblood, shouldn't you be over at your own table with the Quidditch stars? What brings you to descend from your almighty heights to speak to us peasants?" Lucius hissed.  
  
"I don't remember addressing the likes of you Malfoy, nor do I intend to." Lily told him, drawing even more startled looks from the table. Lucius looked like he was about two seconds from wiping the smirk off of Lily's face. She brought her gaze back to Severus.  
  
"We didn't say what time we were going to meet. How about right after dinner tomorrow night? We can get a head start."  
  
"Fine." Snape said quietly.  
  
"Well good, see ya then." and with that she got up and returned to the Gryffindor table.  
  
"What in the HELL was that about?" Lucius roared.  
  
"How the hell do I know. I told you I have to tutor her." Severus said angrily. Maybe this wasn't going to go over as good as he hoped.  
  
~~**~~  
  
Lily returned to the Gryffindor table to meet the horrified looks from her friends.  
  
"What...was...THAT!?" Sirius asked.  
  
"What?"  
  
"That...that...you sat at the SLYTHERIN table." Remus stammered.  
  
"Yes I did."  
  
"And you talked to Snape." James added.  
  
"Yup."  
  
"And you pissed off Lucius Malfoy. He does not look happy." Peter pointed out.  
  
"oh who cares what that over grown three year old looks like." Lily said exasperated.  
  
"Look, its not like I ran over there and declared my undying love for him. I just asked what time we were going to meet tomorrow. I told you that we're stuck tutoring each other." she said, as the rest of them just looked at her like she sprouted another head.  
  
After dinner Lily retreated to the Common Room to finish her homework and went to bed. Tomorrow was probably going to be a trying day.  
  
~~**~~  
  
"Okay so, lets try disarming okay? I'm going to pull out my wand, and you take it from me. Ready? On three...one...two..three."  
  
"Expelliarmus!" Lily incanted. The wand didn't move. Neither did Severus. "Expelliarmus!!!" she tried again. The wand still didn't move. Severus sighed. This was now the eighteenth try.  
  
"I told you I just can't do this stuff." Lily said, when she noticed Severus' expression. He put his wand into the inner folds of his cloak.  
  
"That's because you're concentrating too much on getting the wand out and ready. Watch, hold up your wand." Severus told her. Lily pointed it at him and in one swift movement, he pulled out his wand, swung it around his head, incanted, and within seconds, was holding Lily's as well, while Lily was knocked onto the floor. Severus offered his hand, she took it and he helped her back to her feet.  
  
"You'd make a good Auror." she told him, brushing herself off.  
  
"Aren't you tired off falling on the ground? Want to try something else?" Severus asked as he noticed Lily cradling her bruised elbow.  
  
"No. Expelliarmus!" she shouted. He spell hit Severus so hard he flew back and crashed into the wall, his head smacking into it with a crack.  
  
"Son of a-" Severus let off a list of curses bad enough to make a sailor blush.  
  
"Oh, oh gods, Severus I'm sorry! Are you okay!?" Lily asked, crouching next to him.  
  
"Oh, I'm just dandy Lily." he said, hesitantly holding the back of his head.  
  
"At least I got the disarming spell right." she said as Severus pushed himself off the floor.  
  
"Yeah you did, trust me," he said. He noticed that Lily was still gripping his arm with a concerned expression and added, "Don't worry, I'm not going to keel over and die."  
  
"Okay, now that I got that, what next?" she asked.  
  
"How about dueling stance. Do you know that?" Severus asked. Lily awkwardly held her wand out in front of her.  
  
"Um no. See, you don't want to hold your wand straight on in front of you like that. Cause I can do this." he said, swiping the wand out of her hand and pointing at her.  
  
"Okay well how do I hold it?" she asked, taking her wand back. Severus ran a hand through his hair and looked a bit nervous.  
  
"Okay, first you have to fix your stance. You're too flatfooted. Um, do you mind?" he asked motioning to her legs.  
  
"No, go ahead." she told him. He pushed her right leg slightly behind her left and turned her hips slightly. Lily had to stop herself from smiling as Severus' hands touched her thigh.  
  
"Okay, now get up on the balls of you're feet, because you're going to have to move quickly." he said. He looked her over and made sure that she was standing right, his eyes lingering a little longer than expected.  
  
"Okay now you're grip," he said, moving her arm so that it was bent, with her elbow facing out, "You want to be able to swing your wand above your head if you need to."  
  
He stepped back and made sure that everything was good, then stepped in front of her and took the stance as well.  
  
"Now bow. But not that low. You want to keep eye contact with your opponent." he said, as he watched her incline her head foreword, her eyes lot leaving his.  
  
"Good, now do you think you can dodge a spell?" he asked. She nodded and he racked his mind on what he could cast that wouldn't cause too much damage.  
  
"Rictusempra!" he incanted. A silver stream of light flashed out of his wand and Lily rolled out of the way as it crashed into the wall and rebounded back at the table.  
  
"Hey, that was pretty good." Severus said.  
  
"Merlin, it's hot in here!" Lily said, unclasping her blue robe and tossing it onto the table." She was wearing a green and red, plaid, tight fitting sweater with a pair of jeans that accented the curve of her hips. "Aren't you hot?" she asked, motioning to Severus' forehead, which had a light layer of sweat on it. He unclasped his robe as well and tossed it next to hers on the table.  
  
Lily's eyes roamed over Severus. The impression that she got from him was that he was on the skinny side, which wasn't true. Through his black shirt, she could see the outline of the muscles on his chest. They weren't big like Sirius' but they were nice in a way. Lily cleared her throat nervously.  
  
"Wanna try that again?" she asked. They both assumed the stance, wands raised and eyes on each other.  
  
"You try casting something." he told her.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Cast something, anything. Try swinging the wand above your head quickly, it'll increase in power. He watched as Lily swung the wand above her head and brought it down perfectly.  
  
"Tarantallegra!" Snape threw himself to the ground as the spell flew into the blackboard.  
  
"That was good, you're getting a lot better." he told her.  
  
"Really? Thanks." she said, tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear and smiling. A knock on the door sounded and in walked James Potter.  
  
"Hey Lily it's 7 now, are you guys done?" he asked.  
  
"Wow, it's that late already? Okay ya, I guess we're done for today. Thanks Severus, you were a big help." Lily said, walking over to the table and pulling her robe back on.  
  
While Lily wasn't looking, James shot Severus a death glare. Severus just sneered in return and watched Lily leave with James.  
  
"Damn that James Potter he gets everything." Severus muttered, pulling his own robe on and stalked down to his Common Room. 


	3. Chapter Three

|Top of Form 1 | |Bottom of Form 1 |  
  
(A/N:)I don't own any of the Harry Potter Characters. I'm not makin ne money off this fic and neither are you haha! Enjoy.  
  
  
  
  
  
"So did you think about what we talked about?" asked Lucius, not even bothering to life his eyes from his Potions textbook. Severus sighed and dropped into the over stuffed armchair in the Slytherin Common Room.  
  
"I don't know Lucius." he said, pulling out his Potions book as well.  
  
"So how was tutoring the Mudblood?"  
  
"She has a name you know." Severus said before he could stop himself. Lucius cocked an eyebrow at him  
  
"I know she does, it's not worth knowing. Since when do you care about Gryffindor trash?" Lucius asked.  
  
"I don't care. So you're really serious about this whole Voldermort thing?" he asked, happy to change the subject.  
  
"Yes I am, I sent my dad an owl about it." Lucius answered.  
  
"You're dad? What does he have to do with anything?"  
  
"Well let's just say he's very close to Voldermort."  
  
"You're dad is a Death Eater!?" Severus asked, astonished.  
  
"Well, I guess you could say that. He's talking to Voldermort about us at the next meeting."  
  
"US?!" Severus shrieked.  
  
"Yes as in you and me. Oh come on you know you want to. Think about the power you could have? We'll be the youngest ones there, it'll be great!" Lucius said, finally looking up from his book.  
  
"Maybe you're right."  
  
~~**~~  
  
"So, how was your lesson with the Slytherin Freak?" asked Sirius as Lily and James came into the Common Room.  
  
"It was actually kind of fun. He's not as bad as you think Sirius." Lily said, giving her friend a pat on the head before sitting next to James on the couch.  
  
"Yeah, you haven't heard half of the stuff I've heard about him and his little buddies." Remus added.  
  
"Oh please, you guys are so gullible you'll believe anything." Lily said.  
  
"Lil, he's serious. The whole lot of them are psychotic. Especially that Lucius dude. Do you even know what they are into? That's why I don't like you working with him." James asked.  
  
"No, enlighten me."  
  
"Lily, the whole lot of them are going to wind up as Death Eaters, mark my words." Peter chipped in.  
  
"Yeah, they already think they're a cut above the rest of us. Talking about how they're pure blood wizards and how they have no 'filthy muggle blood' staining their perfect family history." Sirius snorted.  
  
"I don't believe a word of it. I can see Lucius, maybe even Crabbe and Goyle. But Severus doesn't seem the type that would do something so stupid." It sounded to Lily like she was trying to convince herself of that as well.  
  
~~**~~  
  
"Miss Evans, would you care to explain why the dueling stance is so important?" Severus glances across the room at Lily. She tensed for a moment before meeting his gaze with a smile.  
  
"Well sir, it's important because you can dodge curses and react quickly. Plus you get a better angle to strike your opponent from." Lily said. The Slytherins were in shock. Lily Evans actually getting a DADA question right? Wow, Satan must have been applying for central heating!  
  
"Very good Miss. Evans."  
  
Lily watched Severus with interest. Every so often, she thought she noticed him watching her, although he always looked away if she caught his eye. Occasionally, when he wasn't talking to that brute Malfoy, his facade of nasty, unapproachable Severus Snape would drop, and he was actually quite pleasant to be around.  
  
Why was he suddenly catching her interest? He wasn't exceptionally attractive like Sirius, he didn't have a wonderful personality like Remus or James. But for some reason, he was like a mystery to her. There seemed to be so much passion and intelligence in him, but it was hidden behind a wall of crudeness.  
  
"I'm going to break him out of his shell if it's the last thing I do." Lily decided.  
  
~~**~~  
  
"Okay so, I think your problem is your concentrating too much on the object itself. You have to think about what you're trying to do." Lily told Severus. They were sitting cross-legged on the floor with a pincushion between them. Severus had his wand out, his face set in utter concentration as he stared at the cushion. For the last fifteen minutes he had been trying to change it into a porcupine.  
  
They had started with a match to a needle and then a box into a book. That had taken an hour before he completely got the hang of it. But even though it was slow, Severus was defiantly improving.  
  
"Why won't you just change!?" he asked, shaking his wand at the cushion in frustration. Almost instantly it changed and a very peeved porcupine sat between them.  
  
"That's it! You have to channel your emotions into it. Just think about something that pisses you off and try to change it back." Lily offered. Severus leaned foreword and squinted, the porcupine was replaced with a pincushion once again.  
  
"Woah." Severus said, looking at the pincushion in awe. That was the fastest he ever transfigured anything in his life.  
  
"I think you've got the hang of it. Try and change the book." Lily said, pushing his Transfiguration book in front of him.  
  
"Change it into what?"  
  
"Lead."  
  
Severus leaned foreword again and stared at the book. Putting every once of emotion he had in him, he pictured the book changing. When he opened his eyes back up his book was a brownish color and looked a lot heavier.  
  
"Well I think I know what you're problem was." Lily said quietly.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Well Transfiguration is based on emotions, and you bottle your emotions inside and don't open up to anyone. That's why it's so hard for you."  
  
"Well that's rich coming from someone who's known me for about two days." Severus snapped.  
  
"I don't have to know you to see that you're afraid of trusting people."  
  
"Lily, don't try and pretend like you know about what I do and what I think because trust me you don't."  
  
"When was the last time you had a date?" Lily asked suddenly.  
  
"Why do you care? Is my answer going to drastically change your life?" Severus demanded, abruptly.  
  
"No, but it might change yours."  
  
"Oh really, well tell me Lily, if you're so smart, who am I supposed to trust? Who am I supposed to open up to and spill my guts out to? You?"  
  
"Why not me?" Severus looked hard at Lily, a new expression crossed his face. He almost looked vulnerable  
  
"Can we just drop this?" he asked exasperated.  
  
"What are you so afraid of?" Lily asked, her hand reaching out to touch the side of his face. He looked like he wanted to shrink away from her touch, but he didn't.  
  
Her hand began to softly stroke Severus' cheek and he winced at the contact. Her free hand moved up, lacing her fingers through his soft dark hair she pulled him closer to her.  
  
"Now that wasn't that hard now was it?" she asked. He just smirked and playfully pushed her back.  
  
"I doubt James would appreciate that." he said simply.  
  
"No he probably wouldn't." she said. Severus transfigured his book back to normal and grinned.  
  
"Maybe now I can transfigure him into a wad of toilet paper and-"  
  
"Oh look it's snowing!." Lily interrupted, pointing to the window.  
  
"Yeah, it is December you know."  
  
"Come on! Let's go for a walk." Lily said jumping up and hauling Severus to his feet.  
  
"What? Why?" he asked.  
  
"I dunno just for fun, come on!" Lily dragged a complaining Severus down the stairs to and out the doors.  
  
"It's cold." he said, pulling his robes closer to him.  
  
"Yeah, it is December you know." she said, mimicking him. He couldn't help but smile. Lily stuck out her tongue and tried to catch a falling snowflake in her mouth.  
  
"How old are you again?" Severus asked, eyeing her with an amused expression.  
  
"Sixteen, oh come on like you've never played in the snow before." she said, pulling him onto the pathway that led around the grounds.  
  
"Yeah when I was like six." he said. She just smiled and kept walking. He couldn't help but notice how nice her red hair looked in contrast with her black robes and the white falling snow.  
  
"What exactly does this have to do with Transfiguration?" he asked after a few moments of silence.  
  
"I don't know. You got done quickly so we decided to take a little break. I wish I could catch on quicker I'm a little slow you know." she said with a laugh.  
  
"No you're not. You're very intelligent." The words flew out of his mouth and he shut his eyes after he said them. She turned and looked at him. Strangely, his compliments seemed to make him feel awkward. Was he so used to insults and discouraging words that friendly compliments embarrassed him? She found this to be a sad thought, but at least he seemed to be opening up a little more.  
  
"Thank you." she said, lacing her arm with his and moving closer to him. She could feel the heat from his body radiating off on to hers. She told herself it was for the warmth, but she knew it wasn't. Severus seemed uncomfortable with being so close to someone. She noticed that he didn't like to be touched, but after a while he seemed to relax.  
  
"This is nice." he said after a while. She looked up into his face. He was smiling, little flakes of snow stuck in his raven black hair.  
  
"You should do that more often." she said.  
  
"What? he asked, the smiling leaving to be replaced by a confused expression.  
  
"Smile." she said. Unsure if it was a command or an answer he smiled again. She laughed and pressed her head into his arm. He laughed too and noticed how odd it was that he was laughing and smiling with a Gryffindor Mudblood. The lake was beginning to come into view now and Severus realized that they had been out for a while and it was getting rather dark.  
  
"Do you want to go back now? Your friends are probably wondering where you are." Severus asked. Lily picked her head up off his arm and looked at him again.  
  
"You're friends won't be looking for you?" she asked. Severus let out a soft snort.  
  
"They don't care where I am," he stated quietly, "Come on, we better be heading back now." Lily paused and turned him to face her.  
  
"Why did you tell me about your childhood?" she asked. He shifted a little at that.  
  
"Because you asked. Because I wanted you to know why I am the way I am." he said, his voice low with something akin to despair.  
  
"What do you mean the way you are?" she asked.  
  
"The unapproachable self loathing bastard." he said plainly, not looking at her face. Lily made the decision right there. Her mind was telling her, that what she was about to do was without a doubt one of the stupidest things she could do, and would more than likely turn out to be very VERY bad. But something else inside of her was telling her that it was what she wanted.  
  
  
  
She leant forward and placed her lips on his. His eyes flashed open in surprise and his body seemed shrink back from her. Lily put one hand gently behind his head and kept him from pulling back. Severus then gave in and shut his eyes, responding to her kiss with what could only described as a clumsy passion. He let her lead as the kiss deepened. Lily felt one of his arms circle around her, uncertainly. She dropped her arm down and found his hand, lacing her fingers with his. He finally pulled away and Lily's eyes fluttered open. He was looking at her with an almost frightened look on his face. She wondered what he could be so scared about when she noticed that his gaze was focussed over her shoulder, she quickly spun around and gasped.  
  
Peter was about four feet away, and it looked like he had seen the whole thing. 


	4. Chapter Four

A/N: I don't own ne of the Harry Potter characters. I just own the plot bwhahaha R/R  
  
  
  
  
  
"Peter! What are you doing out here?" Lily hissed.  
  
"What am I doing out here? I'm not the one with my tongue down a Slytherin's throat!" Peter shouted. Crap, he had seen.  
  
"Peter, it's not what you think it is." Lily started.  
  
"The hell it isn't! You're cheating on James!" Peter yelled.  
  
"Shut up Pettigrew." Snape hissed.  
  
"I'm-I'm going to tell James." Peter said.  
  
"No! You can't!" Lily pleaded but Peter had already turned around and was making his way back to the castle.  
  
"Shit!" Lily said, stomping her foot on the ground.  
  
"Oh gods, I'm sorry Lily. If you want me to talk to James I will. I'll tell him I kissed you." Severus said. Lily smiled.  
  
"Don't worry too much about it Severus. I'll try and explain it to him. Come on, we better get back to the castle." Lily said quietly. The pair started back on their way, except this time, they kept distance between them.  
  
~~**~~  
  
"James will you just LISTEN!?" Lily screeched.  
  
"No! What the hell were you thinking? SNAPE?!" James hollered so loud that Lily instinctively took a step backwards. The common room had emptied about five minutes ago when the fight had started. They were the only ones there.  
  
"James...I...it's not like that." she said meekly.  
  
"I can't believe you would do that to me! With Snape of all people! He's as ugly as sin! He's evil Lily! Don't you get that? You have no idea what people like him are into. They torture Muggles and witches like you for fun. They're sick!"  
  
"He isn't like that James! Gods, what do you have against him?" Lily sobbed. This was turning out a lot worse than she expected.  
  
"What do I have against him? WHAT DO I HAVE AGAINST HIM!? Lily you were snogging him in the woods behind my back!!" James yelled.  
  
"I told you it wasn't like that James! Why won't you believe me!?" Lily yelled back.  
  
"This is bullshit Lily. I thought you were different than everyone else. I guess I was wrong. Hope you and the Death Eater have fun. Goodbye Lily." Lily stepped back as if he had struck her. He had said it so calmly that it would have felt better if he had screamed it.  
  
She watched him turn around and leave and that's when the tears came. Quickly she took off running through the halls not even looking where she was going. The tears were streaming down her face and her breath was coming out in hoarse sobs. She made her way up to the Astronomy Tower and sat down in front of the window, where she broke down and cried.  
  
"Aw, poor little Mudblood." Lily whipped her head up to see Lucius Malfoy leaning against the doorframe, that cocky expression plastered on his smug face face.  
  
"What are you doing here?" she spat angrily, standing up.  
  
"Following you of course. I heard about you and your little Quidditch Star boytoy broke up. How sad." he said stepping into the room.  
  
"Get out and leave me alone." she hissed.  
  
"Demanding little thing aren't you?" Lucius asked. Lily backed up with every step he took towards her. Lucius Malofy was dangerous, everyone knew that. She soon found herself pressed against the sidewall next to a table.  
  
"It seems to me that you are having quite an influence over my friend Severus." Lucius said. Lily snorted.  
  
"You're not his friend."  
  
"And neither are you. I want you to leave him alone." he said, his voice dropping dangerously low.  
  
"Or you'll do what? You don't scare me Lucius." she stated. He cocked an eyebrow and looked at her. With lightning fast movements, his hand shot up to her neck and pinned her to the wall. He was strong. He applied more pressure to her neck and Lily was beginning to have trouble drawing breath.  
  
"Well maybe I should." he whispered. Lily's eyes darted franticly around looking for something she could use as a weapon. She saw the silver candlestick on the table.  
  
She quickly picked it up and swung it at his head. She ignored the fact she was Lily Evans, 5"5 120 pounds. All she wanted to do was smash his arrogant head in. The candlestick connected to the side of his head and he immediately let go of her neck as she prepared for another swing. Unfortunately, he caught it, barehanded and yanked it out of her hand.  
  
"Bitch!" he spat, grasping the side of his head. "I'll get you for that. Mark my words Mudblood. You will pay." and with that he turned and left her, more confused than when she first got there.  
  
~~**~~  
  
Severus walked through the hallway mumbling to himself. He was an idiot! A fool! A downright git. How could he do that? James wasn't going to forgive her. They were going to break up and it was going to be all his fault.  
  
"Snape!" Severus whirled around to see none other than James Potter striding towards him.  
  
"What do you want Potter?" he asked. James kept walking towards him until he was right up in his face. Although Severus was tall, James was till taller by about 3 inches.  
  
"I'm going to KILL you." he hissed dangerously low. Severus almost backed up, but he held his ground. He realized he didn't have his wand. He glanced down at James' hand to see he didn't have one either.  
  
"And why is that?" Severus asked in mock innocence. James lost it. He cracked Severus across the jaw with his right fist. Severus stumbled backwards from the impact. Putting his hand to his jaw he saw it was smeared in blood. Severus rushed James in anger, sending both boys flying, Severus landing on top of James. He grabbed James by the collar of his robes and held his fist in his face.  
  
"This time, Potter, you've pushed too far."  
  
James was still reeling from the fall to the floor, and he did not really pay attention to what Severus was saying. He lashed out, hitting Severus as hard as he could in the stomach.  
  
Severus lost his breath and James gained the offensive. He took advantage and hit him again, in the face this time. Severus gave him a hard blow to the head, which sent James rolling off him.  
  
Severus just took a moment to catch his breath, but he was far too angry and stressed to let it end there. He went after James with a vengeance. They started to roll and hit each other repeatedly, seemingly with the intent of killing the other.  
  
This is how Sirius Black found them as he was returning from the kitchens, stealing food from the house elves. This is also how Lucius Malfoy found them on his way down from the stairs from the Astronomy Tower. The two boys looked from their friends, rolling around on the floor and back to each other, seemingly more than ready to join in the brawl.  
  
However both decided it would probably be a good idea to break up Severus and James before a) they killed each other or b) a teacher walked by and saw them.  
  
Lucius pulled Severus off James and held him firmly around the stomach and Sirius got a hold of James' shoulders and pulled him up.  
  
"What the hell has gotten into you two?!" Sirius asked once James had stopped trying to squirm out of his grasp.  
  
"He was snogging Lily near the lake today, Peter caught them." James snapped.  
  
"Oh please, you probably didn't even give her a chance to explain. You didn't give me one either you just came flying down the stairs and punched me." Severus hissed. Lucius pointed a finger at the two Gryffindors.  
  
"You two better watch it." he warned before pulling his smaller friend down to the Slytherin Common Room. 


	5. Chapter Five

A/N: I don't own any of the Harry Potter Characters. All I own is this lil plot!  
  
  
  
  
  
"What in the bloody hell is going on with you Severus!?" Lucius asked once he had gotten them both into the dorm room.  
  
"Nothing." Severus said angrily. He took a quick glance in the mirror. He had blood flowing out of the corner of his mouth. The middle of his lip was split and bleeding as well. There was a bruise developing on his cheek and it looked like he was going to get a nice black eye. He wondered if he had hit Lucius when he was breaking up the fight because Lucius he had an ugly bruise on the side of his head.  
  
"You look really bad." The mirror told him.  
  
"Oh blow it out your ass." he muttered.  
  
"Severus why the hell were you making out with Lily Evans? She's a Gryffindor! She's a Mudblood! She's-"  
  
"A very nice girl who I happen to like." Severus cut in. Lucius' jaw dropped.  
  
"You LIKE her?? Sev, when I told you that you need a girl I didn't mean for you to go out and get a Gryffindor tramp!" he shouted.  
  
"She's not a tramp." Severus answered angrily.  
  
"How do you think Voldermort is going to react to having a Death Eater that's in love with a Mudblood?" he asked. Severus just glared at him.  
  
"I'm not a Death Eater Lucius. Maybe your main goal in life is to make people suffer but it's not mine."  
  
"I don't believe this! Severus, I'm your friend, have I ever lead you wrong? No. And Lily and her little friends have made your life miserable for the past six years! Put two and two together Severus! She's using you."  
  
"Oh bull. What is she using me for?" Severus asked, beginning to get quite angry with Lucius.  
  
"Who knows, to get back at James for something, for all we know this could be a set up. James and Lily could still be going out, they're just leading you on!"  
  
"You've lost it Lucius."  
  
"No I haven't. Think about it! Why would Lily Evans leave her popular, Quidditch star boyfriend for a Slytherin."  
  
"Gee, thanks. I'm going to the bathrooms and try and clean up." Snape said dejectedly. He turned and left his room, slamming the door in the process. He made his way down the hallway to the sixth year Slytherin boy's bathroom. It was empty, thankfully.  
  
He began to think about what Lucius had said. What if Lily was using him? What if she really was setting him up?  
  
Severus ran some warm water in one of the silver sinks. He took a look in the mirror and sighed. He looked like he got in a bar fight. His face was still smeared with blood and every part of his body was aching. He pulled off his robes, wincing in pain as he did so. He pulled up his back shirt and looked for any bruises on his chest. He made his way to the closet to get a washcloth when a knock at the door stopped him.  
  
~~**~~  
  
Lily made her way down from the Astronomy Tower. She didn't want to be there if Lucius came back. He'd probably throw her out the window. She made her way to her room, ignoring the looks that most of the Gryffindors were giving her. When she got to her dorm she collapsed on her bed and sighed. From the bits of conversation she heard, Severus and James had an all out brawl in the hallways. She was worried about Severus. James was diffidently a lot bigger and stronger than he was. Her hand brushed against parchment and she turned over, looking at it. It was the Marauders Map, she had asked James to borrow it the night before. She suddenly had an idea. Pointing her wand to the map she whispered, "Slytherin?"  
  
Instantly the map began to swirl and the Slytherin Tower came into view. Lucius was pacing back and forth in his dorm, Crabbe and Goyle were in the common room. Severus was in the bathroom, alone. She immediately left her room and made her way to the Slytherin Tower.  
  
~~**~~  
  
"Great, this is all I need." Severus muttered. It figured that a teacher was going to find him in the bathroom, take one look at him, and give him detention for a week. He crossed the room to the door, and slowly opened it. To his surprise Lily was standing at the door, biting her lower lip with an uncertain look on her face. She looked up at Severus, feeling herself drawn into his penetrating eyes.  
  
"You're the last person I expected to see down here Lily." he said quietly. Lily's eyes studied his face and scanned over the vivid bruises. She pursed her lips and entered the room.  
  
"I can't believe you and James fought." she said, crossing to the cabinet and pulling out a handful of washcloths. Severus still said nothing, just watched her as she soaked the washcloths in the sink. She pulled a chair next to her and motioned for him to sit in it. He did so, eyes not meeting her gaze. She pulled one of the washcloths out and wrung the excess water off of it.  
  
"I'm not mad at you, you know. I don't blame you for this." she said, putting her hand under his chin and forcing him to look at her. He just nodded. She pressed the washcloth to his lip and he hissed in pain, pushing her hand away.  
  
"Hold still." she said, gasping his shoulder. He quieted and she cleaned off his mouth and wiped the blood off. He sat still the whole time, black eyes watching her with undivided attention. She moved up to the bruise on his cheek and ran her fingers over it. She wiped it with the cloth and pulled out her wand.  
  
"Alliviatus." she said. The bruise immediately stopped throbbing and the livid blue color left somewhat. She did the same to his eye and smiled when he touched it gently.  
  
"Thank you." he said, finally. Lily crouched down to his height and gently ran her hand through his hair. She didn't know why everyone said his hair was greasy because it really wasn't. It was very soft and shiny and she loved the feel of it against her hands.  
  
"It's the least I could do." He shifted his weight, uncomfortably in the chair and closed his eyes as the pain in his side grew. Lily's hands reached down to his black shirt and started to tug it out of his pants. He looked at her quizzically and she smiled.  
  
  
  
"Don't worry." She pulled the shirt up over his head. She was greeted by a surprisingly muscular chest. His muscles were visible but without being too large. Lily smiled, to her, he was perfect. Her eyes dropped to an angry boot mark on his side. She preformed the healing charm and the bruise dissipated. He pulled his shirt and robes back on and looked at Lily.  
  
"I'm sorry." she finally said. He looked up and his dark black eyes met her bright green ones. He smiled sadly and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. That simple contact was enough to make tears well up in Lily's eyes.  
  
"Sorry for what?" he asked.  
  
"For everything, for the kiss, for the fight, for..gods I messed everything up." she trailed off as the tears spilled over and she buried her face in her hands. Severus quickly leapt off the chair and sunk to the floor next to her.  
  
He didn't have the slightest idea what to do. He was never in this position before. Let's face it, his mere presence wasn't exactly comforting. For once he actually wished that Remus Lupin was there. He was infinitely more comforting than he was. He gently pulled Lily's form into his and she put her head on his chest. He could feel her breath blowing on his chest through his robes. Severus hesitantly began to rub her back and whisper into her ear. Her sobs died down but she was reluctant to pull away from him, felling somehow safe, buried in his black robes.  
  
"Are you okay? he finally asked. She picked her head up from his chest and looked into his eyes.  
  
"I'm fine." she said, pushing herself off the ground. He too stood up and hugged her tightly.  
  
"Look, I'm sorry for whatever trouble I've caused you, if you don't want to see me again I'll understand I-" Lily was silenced by Severus gently putting his finger over her lips.  
  
"Lily, I...well, I think I love you." the words felt so strange coming out of his mouth. Lily looked up at him wide-eyed.  
  
"You do?" she asked. He nodded, and Lily was sure that in that moment she would never feel pain or anger again. She stood up and planted a chaste kiss on his forehead.  
  
"I love you too."  
  
"You should go get some sleep." He told her. She nodded and reluctantly left his embrace, to head back up to the Gryffindor Tower. 


	6. Chapter Six

A/N: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters. I'm not making any money off of this and neither are you HAHA! Please R/R!  
  
  
  
Lily returned to the Gryffindor Common Room that night with so much on her mind. Severus loved her. She loved him. There was no problem with that. However, she was a Gryffindor and he was a Slytherin. A rival, a despised rival at that. A week ago if someone told her that she was in love with anyone but James she probably would have laughed hysterically in their face. And now she was in love with a Slytherin. How quickly her thoughts could change.  
  
Her fellow Gryffindors, obviously hearing what happened, weren't very happy with her at that point. When she walked through the Common Room most chatter stopped and students watched her, whispering and pointing.  
  
"She left James for Severus!?"  
  
"Is she crazy?!"  
  
She was guessing that Severus was probably going to have it worse. After all, he was snogging not only a Gryffindor, but also a Mudblood! She found it hard to sleep, the events of that night running through her head. And on top of all that, she was sure that Malfoy wasn't going to be too happy with her.  
  
  
  
And what was going to happen in a week when everyone left for Christmas Break? Usually the whole gang would go to James' house and stay there. She seriously doubted that she would EVER be welcome in James' house again at that point. Lily never stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas Break before but she knew that Severus did every year. After a while Lily's thoughts left her and she slowly drifted off to sleep.  
  
~~**~~  
  
Severus returned to his dorm a little while after Lily left to go to hers. Lucius was still awake when he returned. He lifted his eyes from his Transfiguration book, gave Severus a quizzical look, but said nothing.  
  
"What?" Severs asked.  
  
"There's something for you on your bed. Read it." Lucius answered, motioning to the letter sitting on his pillow. Severus hesitantly sat down and picked up the letter. The envelope was the color of dried blood and there was a seal stamped onto the back of it in green wax. He recognized it immediately. It was the image of a serpent protruding from the mouth of an angry skull. It was the image that was seen over the houses of murdered Muggles and Mudblood. The serpent's sign- The dark mark. This was not good.  
  
  
  
He broke the seal and pulled out a letter on regular colored parchment. His eyes scanned over the letter until they came down to the bottom of the parchment. The whole letter was written in blood.  
  
__________________________  
  
Severus Snape,  
  
It has been brought to my attention  
  
that you and Lucius Malfoy aspire to  
  
bear the dark mark. I believe that you  
  
both may be very useful in my cause  
  
I will send word about meeting with you  
  
both soon.  
  
__________________________  
  
"Lucius....what the hell is this?" he asked, dropping the letter in horror.  
  
"Apparently Lord Voldermort wishes to meet with us." Lucius answered calmly.  
  
"Us? US!? Lucius I want no part in this!!" Severus yelled, jumping up from the bed. Lucius' eyes flashed dangerously and he crossed the room to stand directly in front of Severus.  
  
"You coward. You'd rather hide behind your little mudblood than except responsibility for how you really feel." he hissed angrily.  
  
"I don't feel that way."  
  
"You felt that way until that bitch got involved. Merlin Severus, have I ever steered you wrong? If you stay with her, she'll be your downfall. If you stay with her, you'll be putting her life in danger as well as yours. If I were you, I wouldn't feel to great about telling the Dark Lord that you want to be a Death Eater and keep your Mudblood girlfriend." Lucius said.  
  
For a while Severus said nothing, as Lucius' words had struck true. The minute Voldermort found out about Lily, he'd probably kill her. Unless of course, he kept it a secret. This was a fine mess he got himself into.  
  
~~**~~  
  
The next morning, Severus stood waiting at the Entrance Hall for Lily. When she arrived, all of his doubts and fears from the night before left him and he saw only her.  
  
"Good morning." he said. She smiled and laced her fingers with his.  
  
"Good morning....are you ready for this?" she asked, motioning to the students already seated and eating their breakfast. He nodded and gave her hand a little squeeze. The pair walked into the Great Hall together.  
  
The looks they got were murderous from their tables. Lucius, Crabbe, and Goyle looked like they were about five minutes from hexing the both of them into infinity. The Marauders looked just as angry. James just dropped his head and began studying his bacon and eggs, muttering angrily to himself. Peter and Sirius were staring daggers into Severus. Remus was the only one who remained neutral, starting conversation with the girl next to him. Dumbledore noted the pair with a small, curious smile.  
  
"Where are we going to sit?" Lily asked, motioning that the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables were out of the question. Severus pulled her over to an unoccupied section of the Hufflepuff table, who regarded them with strange looks, but didn't say anything.  
  
"So what do you have today?" Severus asked, pulling some sausage onto his plate.  
  
"Charms, Herbology, Transfiguration, DADA, Ancient Ruins, and Potions." Lily counted off on her fingers.  
  
"Hmmmm, maybe I can meet you after our classes are over in the library. Maybe work on some homework?" Severus asked.  
  
"I'll be there." Lily answered, stealing a piece of sausage off his plate.  
  
~~**~~  
  
After Potions, Severus rushed back to his room to get some books to bring down to the library when he noticed Lucius sitting on his bed, holding a letter in his hand.  
  
"No." Severus said simply  
  
"He's in the Forbidden Forrest waiting for us. Do you want to be late and piss him off or just go now?" Lucius asked.  
  
"He can't be in the Forbidden Forest, you can't apparate onto Hogwarts grounds." Lucius rolled his eyes.  
  
"Damn it Severus, he's the Dark Lord! Don't you think he can find a way around it? Let's go!"  
  
"I told Lily I'd meet her in the library though."  
  
"Well it doesn't look like you will be meeting her so she's just going to have to deal with it. Let's go." Lucius said, tossing Severus his cloak and hauling him out the door. 


	7. Chapter Seven

A/N: I don't own ne of the harry potter people and im not makin ne money off this fic.  
  
Alrighty 2 chapters whew whoo!! Go me! There's murder in this chapter so if you're queezy or somethin don't ready. Sorry but I need it in there lol adios!  
  
  
  
  
  
"This is a really bad idea Lucius." Severus hissed, pulling his robes closer to him.  
  
"Oh quit complaining, we're almost there." Lucius panted. They were far deeper in the Forbidden Forest than Severus ever wanted to be. He vaguely wondered how they were going to get out.  
  
"How far do we have to go?" Severus grumbled again. Lucius didn't bother answering and just continued making his way through the snow on the ground, head down.  
  
'How could I let him talk me into this. We're going to get caught and I'm going to have detention for the rest of my educational career! Either that or Voldermort is going to take one look at me and kill me right on the spot! And if that doesn't happen, I'm probably going to get eaten by some seven foot tall three hundred pound-'  
  
"Three hundred pound what boy?" asked a cold voice in front of him. Both Severus and Lucius snapped their heads up. A tall man in emerald green robes stood in front of them. His eyes flashed a brilliant red color and his complexion was rather sullen and pale. Scarier than his appearance was the feeling that ran through Severus upon being so close to this man. He seemed to radiate power and hate and death.  
  
Lucius recovered first and dropped to his knees, respectfully bowing his head. Severus, wanting to return to the castle as soon as possible and in one piece, did the same.  
  
"Very nice my children, you may rise." Voldermort said silkily. In three steps he was standing before them. The absurdity of the situation finally hit Severus. He was standing in front of quite possibly, the most dangerous man in the world, about to become a Death Eater, and he wanted absolutely no part in it! Damn Malfoy!  
  
"Now, I take it that you both wish to join the ranks of my Death Eaters?" Voldermort asked.  
  
"Yes my Lord." Lucius answered. Severus stood dumbfounded for a moment until Voldermort's eyes fell on him.  
  
"Yes my Lord." he said dumbly. Voldermort regarded him for a moment.  
  
"There is something about you child." he said thoughtfully, looking into his eyes. Severus tensed for a moment. 'Please don't let him know about Lily.'  
  
"Now, if you are both absolutely sure that you want this honor, you must perform a simple task. You can not turn this down. Are you willing to do this?" Severus and Lucius slowly nodded as The Dark Lord shut his eyes and began muttering under his breath.  
  
When he opened his eyes two figures appeared at the boys' feet. Severus looked down and had to fight the bile rising in his throat. They were Muggle teenage girls, about the same age as them. Their hands were bound tightly behind their backs and their mouths were gagged. Beside them sat two shiny athames. Ceremonial knifes.  
  
"Kill them." Voldermort said simply. Severus glanced at Lucius. He had gone noticeably more pale. However, he leaned down and picked up the knife swiftly. With a look of determination he brought the knife down and plunged it into the girl's chest without hesitation. Severus turned his head and tried to block out the strangled noise the girl made deep in her throat. When he opened his eyes Lucius was kneeling in front of the body, Voldermort standing over him. Severus didn't bother watching what was going on. All he could see was the girl lying bound on the ground before him, pleading eyes looking up at him.  
  
With trembling hands he reached down and picked up the knife, holding it uncertainly in his hands.  
  
"Why are you hesitating Severus?" came a silky voice in front of him. Severus clinched his jaw tight and gripped the knife harder. 'She's just a muggle. She doesn't mean anything. Her life is pointless.' He said over and over. Perhaps a week ago he could have convinced himself that was true. But not since meeting Lily.  
  
"Do it Severus."  
  
'Just do it quickly and get it over with, Don't look in her eyes.' he thought. Severus raised the athame higher over his head. In one swift motion he shut his eyes and brought the knife straight down. He felt the skin break and the warm blood soak over his hand. Suddenly he felt unbelievably powerful, as if a spark went through him. He had just taken someone's life. He should have felt bad but he just felt oddly powerful and detached from his body.  
  
Severus kneeled next to the body and looked up at his new master. Voldermort kneeled down and dipped his thumb in the blood of the Muggle girl. Severus watched as Voldermort pushed up his cloak and robe. He brought his thumb down and pressed the blood into Severus' right forearm and shut his eyes.  
  
A painful burning sensation slowly spread throughout his arm and Severus bit his lip to avoid screaming out. In a minute it was over and Voldermort removed his thumb, In it's place was the same image that was on the seal of his letter. The skull and the snake. He had been branded with the dark mark. He was a Death Eater.  
  
~~**~~  
  
Instead of heading to his dorm room to face his fellow Slytherins, Severus felt the need to be alone. He often had that feeling but tonight it was exceptionally strong. His emotions were running on an all time high and he had no idea where he stood. He had done something terribly wrong. He had murdered, and yet it didn't feel like that was what he did. Without even noticing it, Severus found himself at the library doors.  
  
Lily.  
  
He was supposed to meet her. What was he going to tell her? Was he going to tell her anything at all? Severus pushed open the heavy door and sighed. Apparently the library was empty and he could be alone to sort through the events of that night. He made his way to an overstuffed couch and sank into it with a sigh.  
  
"You're really late." said a voice from behind him. Startled, Severus jumped to see Lily sitting on a chair behind him.  
  
"Lily." he breathed. She regarded him for a moment with something he couldn't read written all over her face.  
  
"I know." was all she said. She knew. He detected so many emotions in her voice. Pain, betrayal, pity. Severus swallowed hard.  
  
"How?" he asked. She looked into his eyes and held his gaze.  
  
"Peter told me. He saw you and Malfoy leave and he followed you. He saw what you did. I made him promise he wouldn't tell anyone else. Why Severus?" she said, her voice wavering at the last comment.  
  
"I....I don't know." he answered truthfully.  
  
"You don't know. You killed an innocent girl and you don't know why?! What if it was me out there Severus? Would you have done the same to me?" Severus flinched as she raised her voice and his anger began to swell.  
  
"No." he managed to say.  
  
"You're sick." she said. Severus stood up quickly then, eyes blazing. Lily instinctively pushed back in her chair. He walked over to stand directly before her, and she vaguely wondered if he was going to strike her. But then his face fell and his shoulders sagged back.  
  
"Get out then." was all he said, turning his back to her and returning to the couch. Lily realized she had stopped breathing and took in a few breathes to steady herself. She took one look at the hunched, defensive form sitting on the couch before her.  
  
Severus put his head in his hands to try and steady himself. The touch on his shoulder was gentle and unexpected, causing him to jump. He felt Lily sit next to him on the couch and sighed. What was she doing? Slowly, his hands were brought down from his face and he turned his head to look at her.  
  
"No." she said simply. Those eyes were bearing into her, pleading with her to understand.  
  
"Just leave Lily, you'll only get hurt." he said, pain in his voice. Lily's arms wrapped around him and pulled him into her.  
  
"I love you Severus. And I'm going to make sure you get out of this mess." 


	8. Chapter Eight

A/N: I don't own ne of the h.p characters. I'm not makin ne money off this fic and neither are you. Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out but its out so be happy hehe please R/R  
  
  
  
Lily lay awake in bed, watching the sleet crash down in heavy sheets outside her window. It was cold that night and she was curled up under her thick blanket, pulling it right up below her chin. Depressing and dreary, almost exactly like her mood. Death Eater. She hated the word. Yet it was a part of Severus and she loved him. A mudblood and a death eater. That had to make her smile, it was almost scandalous. What was she going to do? Severus' words from that very night she found out rang true in her ear. This was not a safe relationship to be in. She sighed and absentmindedly played with the fabric on her blanket. At least with James she only had to worry about 3/4 of the female population of Hogwarts. Now she had to worry about being murdered in her sleep. Wasn't this lovely?  
  
There had to be a way out of it for him. Voldermort can't be that strong can he? Everyone makes mistakes and Severus just happened to make an extremely stupid one. She glanced at the suitcases of her friends, which reminded her that soon everyone would be leaving for Christmas Break. She had sent an owl to her parents telling them she was going to stay at the school. Now she was wondering if that was a wise decision.  
  
~~**~~  
  
Severus sat in the Great Hall, watching students come down the stairs, suitcases packed and dressed in heavy cloaks. He was one of the few that were staying, there was no way he was going to be shipped off to stay at a relatives'.  
  
He sighed, at least Lily was staying. The girl had kept her promise. She didn't leave Severus after she found out about the hideous act he committed. In fact it was just the opposite. She seemed to spend even more time with him, walking hand in hand with him in the hallways and meeting him in the library when they had free time.  
  
Their relationship was growing. Severus wasn't sure if this was a good or a bad thing. He was getting more comfortable around her and didn't mind as much when she touched him. Touching never meant good things for Severus. His mother only touched him when she was going to smack him around and tell him that he was absolutely nothing but problems. Oh the Gryffindor idiots Black and Potter would push him down the stairs or casually knock the books out of his hand. However Lily's touch was different, gentle and soothing.  
  
"Hey Sev!" said a bright and chipper voice behind him. Severus turned to see Lily. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders from behind and she pressed her lips to his ear in a playful kiss.  
  
"Aren't we up early?" he said, sliding out the seat next to him. Lily sat down and poured herself a glass of pumpkin juice.  
  
"I can't wait to give you your present tomorrow." she said happily.  
  
"Present?" he asked. Well that was something new. Nobody had ever bothered to get him a present before.  
  
"Yeah, present. As in Christmas present." Lily said, smiling.  
  
"You didn't have to get me anything you know. Nobody ever bothered to before, I'm used to it." Severus told her. Lily pursed her lips.  
  
"Well I wanted to." she said. How unhappy must his childhood have been if he never even got a present from anyone?  
  
"So, we have the whole week to ourselves. What do you want to do?" he asked, changing the subject.  
  
"Oh I plan on relaxing and enjoying this to the fullest. No roommates, no teachers, no annoying people asking questions. Just you and me." she said, slipping her arm around his shoulders.  
  
"Oh dear gods, this is going to kill me." he joked, receiving a playful punch from his girl.  
  
~~**~~  
  
"And this is my section of the room. This is my bed, that's my desk, and that's my closet." Lily said, pointing out her corner of the dorm room. Since none of her roommates had stayed, Lily didn't see a problem with bringing Severus in and showing him around. Sure, they'd probably catch hell if Minerva caught them, but that just added excitement to the ordeal.  
  
The room gave off a cozy vibe with it's light wooden walls and it's fireplace blazing warmly. The room smelled of cinnamon and smoke. There were four beds set in the room and around each sat four different atmospheres. Lily's gave off uncluttered warmth.  
  
"Nice." Severus said, running his hand over the maroon and gold comforter with the Gryffindor lion, strewn across Lily's bed.  
  
"Do you like that?" Lily asked.  
  
"Yeah. Who made it for you?"  
  
"I stitched it myself, in my first year. It took me almost four months to finish it." Severus looked at her awed.  
  
"You have real talent Lily, this is great! It must be really warm." he said. She just nodded and smiled. Severus' eyes wandered over the rest of her belongings. Her closet was open and her robes and clothes hung neatly, the rest of her belongings were placed on the floor or in drawers  
  
On her desk sat three pictures in silver frames. One was of an older couple, obviously her parents. Another was a moving picture of Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter at Hogsmeade. The third held a picture of Lily with her arm around a girl about her age with sandy brown hair and blue eyes. It was taken with a muggle camera because it wasn't moving.  
  
"Who's that?" Severus asked, pointing to the picture. Lily looked at the picture and smiled.  
  
"My best friend Josie. She lives in Stratford. We've been friends since first grade." she answered, laying down on the bed. Severus stood watching her awkwardly for a moment.  
  
"You don't have to stand there you know, you can come lay down here. I won't bite too hard, promise." Lily said, patting the space next to her. Severus smiled and laid down next to her, looking up at the red curtains, pulled up to the top of the canopy bed..  
  
"That's not fair, we don't get curtains and your beds are a lot nicer than ours." he said, with mock envy. Lily laughed and pulled on one of the tassels. The curtains fell, surrounding the entire bed in maroon velvet.  
  
"Nice trick." Severus said, giving Lily a seductive half smile that made her heart melt. She flipped over so that she was lying on top of him, playfully pining his sides with her knees and kissed him.  
  
"You know, you still haven't showed me your dorm." Lily mumbled into his mouth.  
  
"You wouldn't like it. It's all dreary and dark like we evil Slytherins. Nothing like your warm toasty little atmosphere." he said. Lily laughed and rolled off him.  
  
"I think I'm going to take a little nap." Lily said, stretching and rolling onto her side, facing Severus.  
  
"Want me to leave?" Severus asked. Lily smiled and ruffled his hair.  
  
"You can stay if you like. As long as you don't go poking around my room looking for your present" she said, shutting her eyes. Severus smiled at how trusting she was, allowing him to stay in her bed while she slept.  
  
"Thank you." he whispered into her ear before wrapping his arm around her and closing his eyes as well.  
  
~~**~~  
  
The rest of the day was spent much to same way. The two of them lazily spending time together. Severus had finally gave in and brought Lily into the Slytherin boys dorm.  
  
"You're right it is boring and depressing." She said. There was no fireplace. Just stone walls and mohagony beds all draped with green and white blankets. A large picture of Salazar Slytherin hung on the wall next to a picture of a large snake. "Which bed is yours?" she asked. Severus led her over to the bed in the far corner. His desk was littered with schoolbooks and parchment. He had no pictures on his desk and his closet was uncluttered, containing only his robes and various other things. A midnight black owl sat perched on top of his cage on the side of Severus' bed.  
  
"That's Colie. I got him my first year." Severus said, leaning down and letting Colie climb onto his arm. "Usually I have to keep him in the cage or in the owlery so Lucius' hellcat doesn't eat him. Lily snorted with laughter.  
  
"Lucius has a cat?"  
  
"Oh it's the most evil thing you will ever see. We call it the hellcat or Satan's minion. He likes to jump on your face while your sleeping." he explained. Lily laughed and stroked Colie's crest with her index finger.  
  
"He's beautiful." She said.  
  
"Wanna take him out and let him fly around?" Severus asked, letting the owl climb on Lily's outstretched arm.  
  
"I'd love to." Severus pulled a cloak out of his closet and draped it around her shoulders for her. It was much to big on her and fell loosely around her. The two made their way out to the courtyard, covered with freshly fallen ice and slow. Lily let Colie fly off her arm and watched him fly around over head, happy to be able to spread his wings.  
  
"This is great." She said, squeezing Severus arm.  
  
"Yeah it is. And we have the whole week all to ourselves." Severus said playfully messing up Lily's hair and pushing her back into a pile of snow. "Aren't you lucky." 


	9. Chapter Nine

A/N: I don't own ne of the harry potter characters and I'm not making ne money off this fic. Look at that, neither are you hahahaha lol!  
  
  
  
Lily Evan's sleepily opened her eyes and blinked a few times, trying to get used to the early morning light shining in through her window. She wondered why she felt so unusually warm before remembering that Severus had spent the night in her room. She smiled and turned over to face him. He was still sleeping peacefully, his chest rising and falling under his black shirt.  
  
She smirked at what her friends would think if she suddenly broke out with, "Yeah so anyway, Severus stayed in my room all last night." In reality, nothing like that happened at all, Severus was really sweet. He didn't really feel comfortable sleeping in the same bed as her so at first he stayed in her roommate's bed. However after about an hour Lily felt him slide in her bed next to her and she couldn't help but smile. She felt his arm circle around her from behind and that's when she went back to sleep.  
  
Lily suddenly realized that it was Christmas and popped up quickly, waking up her companion who groaned and pulled a pillow over his head.  
  
"Cheerfulness...." he muttered, rolling onto his stomach.  
  
"Come on Sev, It's Christmas, awake awake!" Lily said, shaking him playfully by the shoulders.  
  
"To....early..." came the muffled voice. After a while Lily succeeded in getting the wizard's head out of the pillow and out of the bed. As he was pulling his robe over his black shirt and black pants he was still wearing from the night before Lily reached into her closet and pulled out a small box wrapped in green parchment and tied at the top with a silver ribbon. Before he could turn back around she thrust the package into his hand.  
  
"Merry Christmas." she whispered into his ear. Severus looked at her for a moment like she had just given him the key to a vault at Gringotts filled to the top with galleons.  
  
"Well open it." He pulled off the silver ribbon and pushed the parchment aside to reveal a small box. He pulled the lid off and smiled at what he found inside. It was a silver ring in the shape of a snake curling around. The snake's eyes were two tiny green emeralds that shined in the light. He pulled it out and held it in his hands for a moment before turning to Lily.  
  
"Do you like it?" She asked quietly. Severus smiled and pulled her into a tight embrace. Believe it or not that was the first present he could remember getting.  
  
"I love it Lily, thank you." he whispered into her hair. Lily kissed him deeply before muttering a quick 'you're welcome.' before pushing him out of the room and explaining that she needed to take a shower and he should do the same. Then they could go to breakfast.  
  
~~**~~  
  
After a quick shower in the bathroom, Severus returned to his dorm and immediately began rummaging through his closet, tossing things over his shoulder in an attempt to find the one object he was looking for. Finally he pulled out a large, leather-bound, worn looking book. He leaned over and pulled some parchment off his bed, wrapping it up the best her could, and sliding a small flower under the ties.  
  
Content with his gift, he marched up the stairs to the Great Hall with a slight bounce to his step. When Severus pulled open the door and entered he found Lily already sitting with a breakfast plate in front of her, pushing her food around with her fork. He dropped into the seat next to her, giving her a peck on the cheek before sliding the gift into her lap.  
  
Lily looked surprised at first, but pulled the parchment off to reveal the book. She unclasped the lock and started to flip through the handwritten pages. Each page was on a different subject written in many different handwritings. She looked up at Severus and he smiled.  
  
"It's been in my family for years. Each person that had it added something to it. It's a book of various spells and enchantments you could use. Pretty much everything you'd ever need is in there." he explained.  
  
"Sev, are you sure you want to give this to me?" she asked. He leaned over and planted aq kiss on her lips.  
  
"Of course. Another thing that makes the book special is that it's given to the person the owner loves the most." he said, pushing a stray strand of hair out of Lily's face. Lily smiled and kissed Severus again.  
  
"I promise I'll take good care of it." she said.  
  
"I know you will."  
  
~~**~~  
  
"Now where is your friend child?" The young blond boy lifted his head and snorted.  
  
"Severus is still at Hogwarts with that Mudblood." Lucius answered. Voldemort stroked his chin, thinking.  
  
"This Mudblood...does he have feelings for her?" he asked.  
  
"He has some sort of attachment to her, yes." Lucius answered.  
  
"Hmmmm.....this is not a very good situation. Severus could be very useful to me in the future. We need to remove the threat that the Mudblood presents."  
  
"How do we do that my Lord?"  
  
"We'll just have to make her loose trust in him."  
  
"Sir, I'm not doubting your plan, but I'm not sure if that will be very easy." Lucius said. Voldemort laughed to himself.  
  
"Oh don't worry it will be very easy. There is something we can have Severus do that will shatter the Mudblood's faith in him."  
  
"Sir, how do you know this?" Lucius asked.  
  
"You should know there are more of my faithful followers within the walls of Hogwarts than just you and Severus. Some of them aren't even in Slytherin."  
  
~~**~~  
  
"Don't you think it's funny that none of this would have happened if we never had to tutor each other?" Lily asked. She and Severus were sitting on a large rock on the side of the lake, Lily lounging between Severus' legs.  
  
"It's even funnier that my best class isn't Defense Against the Dark Arts, it's Potions." Lily turned and laughed.  
  
"My best class isn't Transfiguration, that was James' best class. Mine is Charms, that's what my wand was made for. The only reason I understand Charms so well is because James used to tutor me for three years." Lily stopped when she realized she had been rambling on about James and just looked out at the lake.  
  
"It's getting really dark." Severus said, moving to get up from the rock, but Lily grasped his wrist.  
  
"I don't mind the dark." she said, snuggling closer to him. She heard him take a sharp breath. She turned around and looked at him quizzically.  
  
"What?" she asked.  
  
"Nothing." She turned back around and moved to get back in a comfortable position and she heard him take another breath and comprehension dawned on her.  
  
"I'm brushing up against some sensitive spots when I do that eh?" she asked.  
  
"Actually yes you are, so stop." he said. Lily pursed her lips to look offended.  
  
"What's wrong? Don't like that?" she asked, squirming again. Severus growled and with lightning quick motions, playfully tackled her off the rock and onto the ground, pinning her arms above her head.  
  
"I don't see you squirming now." he said. Lily smiled and hooked her legs around his waist and rolled over, pinning her under him and shoving a handful of snow in his face.  
  
"Likewise," she said, pulling herself up, "C'mon. Let's get back to the castle. They walked arm in arm, huddled close together for warmth the whole way up to the castle. When they got there, Lily reached for the doorknob, but it was thrown open and someone crashed into her, sending her flying back into Severus, who caught her quickly.  
  
"Peter! What are you doing here? I thought you were at James' house for the break." Peter looked up fearfully.  
  
"I...I was, I mean I am...er...I just um...oh look at the time, got to go!" and with that he raced off towards the Forbidden Forest leaving the confused couple behind him.  
  
~~**~~  
  
"Do you have it?" came the harsh voice. Peter stopped with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small picture.  
  
"Are you sure this is the girl?" the voice asked.  
  
"Yes my Lord I'm positive. The one with the red hair is the Mudblood Severus is attracted to. The girl in the picture with her is her Muggle friend. She lives in Stratford. I believe her name is Josie." Peter said, still panting.  
  
"Very good Pettigrew. You'll make your way through the ranks of the Death Eaters quite quickly." 


	10. Chapter Ten

A/N: I don't own any of the harry potter characters and I'm not making ne money of this fic and neither are you hahahaha!  
  
Dedication: Severitus and Mediterranean Queen *I so love these girls lol! Thanks for all the reviews!*  
  
  
  
  
  
Severus eyes shot open and he jumped up, gripping his right arm in pain. Luckily Lily was a heavy sleeper and he didn't wake her up. He decided to ignore it and fell back onto the pillow. Almost instantly another burning sensation shot through his arm and he hissed loudly in pain. Next to him, Lily stirred and opened her eyes.  
  
"What's wrong?" she asked, her voice heavy with sleep.  
  
"Nothing. Go back to sleep. I just have to go to the bathroom really quick." he told her, crawling out of bed and leaving the dorm room. He hastily made his way to the Forbidden Forest, hoping to get whatever it was over with quickly. He realized he didn't even put his cloak on and regretted it as the wind whipped around him, making him shiver.  
  
He quickened his pace and made his way to the clearing he knew Voldemort would be.  
  
"Hello Severus." Before he could drop to his knees, something cold and heavy was thrust into his hand. He looked to see the same ceremonial knife he held in his hands when he was initiated. He almost dropped it but Voldemort was quicker. He lifted his wand, pointed it at him and whispered. "Imperio."  
  
~~**~~  
  
Josie Gellar sat on the couch in her living room, idly flipping through the channels on her television with a bowel of popcorn in her lap. Her parents were in America on a business trip for the week and wouldn't be back for another three days. Her brother was out for the night so she had the house all to herself.  
  
A knock at the door caught her attention and she looked at the clock- it was one in the morning. Her brother probably needed some money and forgot his keys as he often did. Sighing angrily, Josie got off the couch and headed for the door. She pulled it open but was taken aback when she saw her brother wasn't the one knocking.  
  
Instead a thin boy about her age with black hair to his shoulders and cold black eyes stood on her doorstep. He wore a long black robe and he held a small silver knife in his hand.  
  
When her gaze fell on the knife she gasped and turned to shut the door but the boy was quicker. He stuck his foot in the doorway and pushed it open with surprising strength. Josie screamed and tried to run but the boy grabbed her arm and pulled her into him, bringing the knife over his head. Josie tried to shrink away as she looked at the boy. For a moment he seemed to hesitate and some of the coldness left his eyes.  
  
"Please don't do this." she begged. Then as quickly as it left the look came back colder and harder then ever and she saw him swing the knife down....  
  
~~**~~  
  
Suddenly Severus' head began to swim and he felt dizzy. He shut his eyes and when he opened him he saw his hands were smeared with dark red blood, as were his robes. He looked down to the ground and almost passed out. There was a girl lying motionless, facedown, in a puddle of blood at his feet. He had killed her, but he didn't remember doing it. Severus pushed the body with his foot rolled it over to reveal a girl with long sandy brown hair. Immediately he recognized her.  
  
Lily's best friend.  
  
He had just killed her. Slowly, the memories came flooding back to him. He had been summoned and he met Voldemort in the Dark Forest, he cast some sort of spell and then he remembered arriving at this house...  
  
"Very nice Severus." Severus whipped his head around and saw the Dark Lord step out of a darkened corner.  
  
"You did this." Severus said, feeling the anger build in him.  
  
"Actually, you did. I just told you to do it. You could have broken the curse, but deep down you WANTED to do it. You like the power you feel when you take a life-"  
  
"I do not!" Severus interrupted. Voldemort stared him down for a moment before crossing the room to stand in front of him.  
  
"Very well. If you want to lie to yourself I can do nothing to stop you. The truth is you killed this girl. Now what are you going to tell the Mudblood?" Before Severus could answer everything went black.  
  
~~**~~  
  
Severus opened his eyes and felt a tremendous pain in his head. Looking around he realized he was in Lily's bed and sighed. He had just had a terrible dream. He brought his hand up to wipe the sleep from his eyes when he saw they were covered in dry blood. He shot up out of the bed and bolted to the door, through the Gryffindor Common Room and out the doors of the Entrance Hall.  
  
Lily awoke to found the warmth she was so familiar with was missing. Tossing onto her side she saw that Severus wasn't there. She figured he went down to the Great Hall for an early breakfast but she was wrong. He wasn't in the Great Hall, or the Slytherin Common Room, or his dorm room, or the library. Confused, she looked around for a note but there was none.  
  
"Um...okay, that's weird." she said to herself. She returned to her dorm and pulled out her History of Magic book to do some homework, figuring that Severus would come back in a while, so she might as well start on some of the work she had due after break.  
  
However Severus didn't come back. He didn't go to lunch or dinner either. Now Lily was beginning to get worried. She threw on her cloak and walked out onto the Hogwarts grounds, the sun was almost set on the west, and there was a chill in the air. She wandered around the grounds until she came to the lake and saw a lone figure sitting on the ground, eyes fixed on something she couldn't see. It was Severus. She quickly made her way over to him and noted that we wasn't even wearing his cloak.  
  
"Severus what are you doing?! Have you been out here all day?" she asked. Severus didn't even acknowledge her presence, he just continued to stare out at the lake.  
  
"Hello? Do you hear me?" she asked again. Without even turning to her he whispered, his voice husky and low, "Go away Lily." Lily looked at him for a moment, stunned and confused.  
  
"No I will not. What is wrong with you Sev?" she asked. Severus seemed to flinch at that but didn't meet her gaze.  
  
"I'm warning you Lily, get back to the castle now." he hissed. Fear began to creep into Lily at his tone and voice. The fond kindness she'd seen in his eyes when she was with him was gone now, replaced with that bitter coldness he had before they had gotten together. She considered going back up to the castle and leaving him, but she shook that thought away.  
  
"Severus I'm not going to leave until you tell me why you are acting like this." she said defiantly. Severus apparently had had enough. He jumped up and roughly grabbed Lily by the throat and applied pressure.  
  
"Get...back.to...the...castle...now." he hissed, his voice dangerously low. He looked into her frightened eyes before giving her a hard push and turning his back to her. He heard her footsteps running back and heard her quiet sobs, but did nothing. There was nothing he could do.  
  
~~**~~  
  
For the rest of the break, Lily avoided Severus and he did the same. He went to eat at different times than she did, he stayed in the Slytherin dorms, and he didn't bother going to the library.  
  
Lily had no idea what caused this sudden change in Severus' temperament and it scared her. He went from kind, compassionate and loving to cold, cruel, and dangerous in one day. She didn't even know where their relationship stood. She lied awake at night thinking or crying but still couldn't figure it out. After four lonely, agonizing days the rest of the student body returned to Hogwarts. Lily was in the Common Room when the Marauders came in, suitcases in hand, covered in snow.  
  
"I didn't know it was snowing." she said. Remus smiled.  
  
"It's not. We had a snowball fight." he said, giving her a warm smile. James gave her an angry look before announcing he was going to his room, leaving Lily with his three friends.  
  
"He really hates me doesn't he?" she asked.  
  
"Well you did leave him for Severus Snape." Sirius put in, receiving an elbow in the gut from Remus.  
  
"Fine, no he doesn't hate you. He's just upset that you'd do that to him." Sirius grumbled before heading up the stairs with Peter to the dorms.  
  
"Aren't you going to go too?" Lily asked Remus, closing the book she was reading and placing it on the table next to her. Remus sank into the chair in front of her and smiled.  
  
"Actually, I wanted to talk with you for a while, if that's okay with you. I missed you." he said. Lily smiled.  
  
"At least someone does." she muttered dejectedly.  
  
"James misses you."  
  
"I'm not talking about James."  
  
"Then who are you talking about?" Remus asked confused. Lily sighed and looked at him.  
  
"It's a long story, you don't want to know." she muttered  
  
"Humor me." Lily launched into the story of Christmas break and the last time her and Severus had spoken. By the end she was in tears and couldn't continue. Remus sat and listened, biting his lip uncertainly. He rose from his chair and pulled her into a hug, letting her cry onto his shoulder.  
  
"And I don't know why he won't talk to me." she sobbed. Remus stroked her back, trying to calm her down.  
  
"I'm sure it's nothing you did. Maybe he just needs some time to think things through." Remus suggested.  
  
"I hope so."  
  
  
  
A/N: two chapters in one day man I kick booty!!! lol ne way I was thinking about changing the name of the fic but I'm not sure what I'm gonna change it to. ne ideas? Well thanks for readin and please review!!! Luv yas 


	11. Chapter Eleven

A/N: I don't own ne of the harry potter characters and neither do you. I'm not makin ne money off this fic and look at that, neither are you hehehe.  
  
Yeah yeah, anyway, this one is dedicated to Mediterranean Queen and Severitus too cause they still kick booty and I'm hopin they don't hate me to death at the end of this chappie lol.  
  
  
  
  
  
Lily sat by herself the next morning, slowly eating some breakfast when the mail came. She ignored it, since she hardly got mail anyway. She glanced over to the Slytherin Table to see that Severus still hadn't come up for breakfast. A small black owl hovered over her head and dropped a letter with a small parcel in front of her. Curious she opened the envelope and pulled out the letter.  
  
______________  
  
Dear Lily,  
  
We're so sorry that we have to be the ones  
  
to tell you this but there isn't much of a  
  
choice. Last night, Josie's brother came  
  
home and found her dead on the floor of her  
  
living room. Her parents were on a buisness  
  
trip and somebody broke into the house and  
  
killed her. They don't know who it is but  
  
as soon as there is any information we'll  
  
let you know. We are so sorry hunny, we  
  
know this must be hard for you. If you need  
  
to talk to us, please send us a letter  
  
Love,  
  
Mom and Dad  
  
______________  
  
Lily stared at the letter, unblinking, her mouth hanging open. A few students at the table noticed her upset look and watched as she silently reread the letter. This had to be a joke. She pushed back the tears and took a deep breath. Tossing the letter down she pulled open the strings on the parcel and picked up it's contents there was no indication of who sent it.  
  
Her mouth dropped and she let out a strangled cry. They were pictures of Josie taken with a wizard camera. One showed her watching TV, the next showed her getting up answering the door. The next showed a man pushing past the door and grabbing her by the throat. She inspected the picture and gasped in surprise. It was Severus! She flipped to the next picture and screamed out as Severus brought a knife down into her friend's chest. She didn't bother looking at anymore.  
  
Lily jumped up, sobbing and ran from the hall as quick as she could, taking the pictures with her. James slid down in his seat and picked up the letter. Reading it over quickly he sighed. Telling his friends he'd be back later, he rose from the table to find Lily.  
  
~~**~~  
  
Severus lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling as if it intrigued him. All his other roommates had gone up to breakfast but he didn't feel like it. All he felt was guilt and self-loathing. He had betrayed Lily and she forgave him. But what he did to her friend, she would never forgive him for. On top of that, he had put her life in danger. Voldemort knew about their relationship and that was dangerous for Lily. Even if Lily did forgive him for this, he couldn't let the relationship go any further, there was far too much of a risk involved.  
  
He should have told her that he couldn't see her anymore when she came down to the lake that night but he was too afraid. He owed her an explanation and he didn't give it to her. A knock on the door pulled him out of his thoughts. Figuring one of his roommates needed to get back in, he opened the door and was immediately greeted by a hard slap in the face. He snapped his head back to see Lily standing at his door.  
  
Looking down into his eyes, Severus' heart wrenched with pain and guilt. Her eyes were red from crying, her face white with shock, her lip trembled and tears were streaming down her face.  
  
"Lily...." he started but he Lily wasn't in the mood to listen. She rushed him, knocking them both over, literally head over heels.  
  
Struggling to his knees, Severus easily caught the fist she swung at him, and quickly grasped the other as she struggled to hit him.  
  
"Don't touch me you fucking bastard." she shrieked, tearing away from him. She reached into her pocket and threw the pictures at him. Confused, Severus started flipping through them and his face went white as well. He looked back up at her, his face set.  
  
"Well?" Lily screamed.  
  
"Lily, you don't understand. Voldemort cast Imperio..."  
  
"THAT'S NO EXCUSE!" she sobbed. "You can easily resist that curse you just didn't WANT to."  
  
"You're right. But Lily....you have to believe me, I never meant to hurt you-"  
  
"The hell you didn't! Severus you murdered my best friend! You didn't think that would hurt me!?" Severus winced at her tone.  
  
"I can't believe this. I trusted you Severus. I stuck up for you when everyone said you were no good. Damn it, I chose you over m friends! I loved you! How could you do this!?"  
  
"Lily, you don't know how horrible I feel about this-" he took a step towards her but she stepped back angrily.  
  
"Don't touch me."  
  
"Lily, please understand, I didn't mean for this to happen."  
  
"Don't give me that shit Severus-"  
  
"Look I said I was sorry and if you are quite through, I'd like you to leave now." Yes Severus, this way you won't hurt her anymore than you have. Put the wall back up. Lily stood shocked as she regarded him.  
  
"You are an insensitive evil bastard." she hissed before letting fly with a hard punch.  
  
Severus watched her storm out of the Slytherin dorms and sighed. He just lost the one person that had ever truly loved him because of some stupid decision Lucius had put him up to. Lily was right he was an evil bastard, that wasn't the half of it.  
  
~~**~~  
  
"Lily.....are you okay?" Lily didn't have to lift her head to know who it was. She knew the voice, it was James. He probably followed her after she ran out of the Astronomy Tower.  
  
"James I can't talk to you right now." she sobbed. She was sitting in the corner of the dark room, her knees curled up to her chest and her head buried in her arms.  
  
"Look, I know about Josie," he said, sliding in next to her and pulling her head into his chest, "I'm really sorry, I know how close you guys were." Lily snorted at the pure irony of it. Her best friend murdered by her lover. She didn't know what she was crying about, the fact her friend was dead, the fact Severus betrayed her, or perhaps both.  
  
"You're going to be late to Transfiguration. Just go." she whispered, barely audible but James heard.  
  
"I don't care if I'm late Lily, it's just one class. It doesn't matter if I go at all."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"You don't have to thank me Lily, I love you. Now come on, I think you should go to the Hospital Wing." Lily allowed herself to be picked up and ushered down to the Hospital Wing. All the students they passed gave them weird looks, and it wasn't long before the rumors began to spread. Lily, chose to ignore them, staying in the Hospital Wing all day and not going to any of her classes. When she finally returned to her dorm that night she was surprised to find Colie sitting on her bed.  
  
"What are you doing here, get out." she hissed. The owl just looked at her before holding out it's leg. A white envelope was tied to it.  
  
"Fine." Lily untied the envelope and opened the door. "Now get out." The owl hooted angrily before flying out. Lily returned to the bed and tore open the envelope. There were three pictures and a note attached. The first picture was of Severus, looking down at Josie's body in shock, the second was of him standing up to Voldemort, and the third was of Voldemort apparating Severus away. She unfolded the note and saw Severus' neat scrolling handwriting.  
  
__________________  
  
Dearest Lily,  
  
You have no idea how much it hurts me to  
  
know all the pain I've caused you. I realise  
  
it's too late for us now, hell it probably  
  
was too late when this whole thing started.  
  
I can't express how sorry I am about what I  
  
did and all the pain I've caused. I'm going  
  
to leave you alone after this and let you move  
  
on. You deserve so much better than me and it's  
  
my wish that one day you love someone like I loved  
  
you. I want you to know I am going to stay with the  
  
Death Eaters but not in the way you think. I've  
  
spoken to Dumbledore and I told him everything. He  
  
told me there is one way out of this and that is what I  
  
took. I'm going to be a spy, a double agent if you will.  
  
I want to thank you again for showing me I can be more  
  
than what everyone thinks I am. I'll never forget you.  
  
All my love,  
  
S.S.  
  
  
  
  
  
A/N: yes yes I know sad... you're probably all pissed at me but RELAX lol. I couldn't have Lily and Severus stay together cause that's not how it happens in the books. But the Fic isn't over yet there's more hehe I got a little more up my selve so keep reading and don't flame! *Hides* Thanks for reading everyone please review :O) 


	12. Chapter Twelve

A/N: I don't own ne of the harry potter characters and neither do you I'm not making ne money off this fic and neither are you.  
  
  
  
Graduation. For Severus Snape the word brought so much to his mind. Seven years worth of hardships, memories, and a few moments of happiness. It was all over today. Everyone would go their separate ways and be left with just their memories. As he packed up his bags, Severus' mind whirled with all kinds of emotions. Guilt , Fear, Regret, Sadness. The list went on and on. He looked around the corner of the room he had spent most of him seven years in and smiled. Something caught his eye at the corner of his bed and he bent to pick it up. It was a parcel, tied up with a note.  
  
_______________  
  
Meet me in the Astronomy Tower  
  
L.E.  
  
________________  
  
He opened the parcel and pulled out the contents. It looked like a blanket. He unfolded it and threw it over his bedspread. It was a handstitched comforter, green and silver. A large snake, identical to his mascot was stitched into the middle of it with SLYTHERIN sewn in under it.  
  
Lily  
  
~~**~~  
  
Lily Evans sat in the Astronomy Tower and gazed out over the grounds of Hogwarts, her second home. The home she would be leaving at the end of that day. All of her things were packed into her suitcases and she was ready for the ceremony. But before she left, there was something she needed to do, and that was set things right with Severus.  
  
She still wasn't sure where they stood. She had gotten back together with James about two months after their break up. From then on when they bumped into each other they sometimes exchanged brief pleasantries when they were alone, but if their friends were around, nothing was said from either of them.  
  
"You wanted to see me?" Startled, Lily jumped up and turned to face Severus, leaning against the doorframe.  
  
"Yeah, actually I did." she said. Severus walked into the room and stood in front of her.  
  
"Thank you for the blanket. It was very good of you to go through the trouble of making it for someone who ruined your life." he said.  
  
"Severus, you didn't ruin my life. I understand you had no control over what you did that night and I'm sorry for giving you a hard time about it. I was....confused at the time and I realize I wasn't fair to you."  
  
"I deserved it."  
  
"No Severus, you didn't. And I regret everything I said cause it wasn't true. You're not a bad person Severus, and I'm sure one day you'll get the chance to make everything right. I just wanted to let you know that I don't hold anything against you." Lily said, looking up at him for a response. He seemed to weigh out her words before putting out his hand.  
  
"Likewise." Likewise, that didn't sum up half of it. She had given him so much more than she knew. But he didn't know how to express it to her. However, somehow he knew that words were not needed and she understood as she took his hand and shook it.  
  
"Good luck Severus." she said.  
  
"Good luck Lily." She turned to leave them but something stopped her. Severus watched as she turned around and threw her arms around his neck in a tight embrace, releasing a year and a half's worth of bottled up emotion and pain. He returned the embrace and for a moment he could almost imagine that things were the way they were for that short time in December where everything was perfectly sane and logical. But the moment ended and he realized not much had changed.  
  
Lily was still in love with James, the only difference now was that they had made their peace and they both would go on with their lives.  
  
~~**~~  
  
"Welcome!" said Dumbledore as he stood on a podium so everyone could see him. "This evening, we will have a special ceremony, honoring those that have spent their seven years here at Hogwarts and are ready to move on. I am truly honored to be here and it's hard to believe that another group of students is leaving. I remember all the faces of those first years who stepped off the Hogwarts Express for the very first time.  
  
"But tonight, we are all moving on with our lives. It saddens me to know that I may never speak with some of you again, but hopefully you will all remember the lessons that were taught here at Hogwarts. Not just in classes, but in your daily lives. It is my hope that you will never forget the people you have met in your seven years here either. I know that I will miss every single one of you and I wish you all the best of luck in the future. Thank you very much."  
  
The Great Hall burst into applause from the High table to the guests in the back, to the students sitting at their respective tables with each other for the last time ever.  
  
The rest of the ceremony went by as a huge blur for Lily. When it was over she was in tears at the realization that this was really the end of her seven year long education. She walked out, arm in arm with James, talking to her parents when a light tap on her shoulder stopped her. She turned around to see Severus and smiled. James immediately looked like he was going on the defensive but Severus just ignored him.  
  
"I just wanted to thank you again." He said.  
  
"For the blanket?"  
  
"No, for everything." And with that he turned and left. Keeping his promise not to bother her anymore. But it was different from the last time, because this time he knew that she would be happy and that's all that mattered.  
  
  
  
A/N: Very very short chapter I know but I need it in here by it's self the next chapter tomorrow will be longer and hopefully ill get the story finished :O) anyway thanks for reading byes! 


	13. Chapter Thirteen

A/N: I don't own ne of the Harry Potter characters and I'm not makin ne money off this fic  
  
  
  
Severus sat at his desk flipping through the essays of his third year students. After he graduated, Severus took a job at the Ministry for a year. It made his run as a double agent very tough to keep up though. At the end of that year however, Severus received a letter from Hogwarts, inviting him to take the job of Potions professor and he gladly agreed.  
  
However, the job brought with it much more than just teaching Potions. The former Potions teacher was also the Head of Slytherin House, and that responsibility came with his position. He didn't mind it too much though. At times it was often fun.  
  
However Severus' idea of fun was NOT going to the Halloween Feast which was taking place that night. He never enjoyed that custom while he was a student and he enjoyed it less now. So instead of eating dinner in the Great Hall, he fixed himself a plate of food from the kitchens (much to the dislike of the house elves), grabbed a glass of pumpkin juice, and headed to his private rooms after he dealt with the few unfortunate students that received detention.  
  
He was about halfway through with the essays when he felt the now familiar burning pain in his right arm. He hissed in anger and pulled on his cloak, making sure he had his wand. He made his way out of the dungeons and slipped out through the Great Hall without being seen.  
  
~~**~~  
  
"My loyal followers, perhaps you are wondering why I called you out here on this Halloween night. I would like to inform you that tonight, I will get rid of the biggest threat to our growing power. A child was born last July to pure blood and mudblood parents. On that night, I was aware of many omens happenings and I became aware that this mere child would somehow lead to out downfall.  
  
"That old fool Dumbledore however, must have noticed as well, and immediately put the family under a blocking spell which could only be penetrated if their Secret Keeper told me how to get to them.  
  
"Well, I am pleased to announce that was exactly what happened. Lily and James Potter apparently didn't choose well and I now have the information I need to rid myself of their threat and the threat their child presents.  
  
"I shall be back soon, and I expect to have a celebration on my return." And with that the Dark Lord left. Most of the Death Eaters shouted and cheered, but one slipped back into the shadows and disappeared quickly.  
  
~~**~~  
  
Severus Snape knocked on the door of Sirius Black's house with as much force and impatience as he possibly could.  
  
"BLACK!!!! I know you're in there!! Open the door damn it!" he shouted. He heard a crash and a string of curses that would impress just about any sailor coming from behind the door. Black really did have quite the mouth on him.  
  
"What in the blue hell do you want Severus?" Sirius spat.  
  
"Oh for once in your life shut up Sirius!" he hissed.  
  
"What is so damn important that you have to-"  
  
"Lily and James' Secret Keeper sold them out." Severus interrupted. Sirius' expression went for angry and impatient to scared and determined in about two seconds.  
  
"How the hell do you know that?" he hissed.  
  
"Because Voldemort is on their way to kill them as we speak. Now I wasted enough time trying to find you and we can waste some more arguing of you wish, or you can get me into that house." Severus snapped. Sirius didn't need to be told twice, he immediately grabbed his wand and apparated them both away.  
  
~~**~~  
  
Severus and Sirius looked up at the large image of the angry skull with the snake protruding from it's mouth, hovering over the small home on Godric's Hollow. Sirius immediately bolted across the lawn towards the already opened door.  
  
"JAMES!!! LILY!!! JAMES!!! SOMEONE ANSWER ME DAMN IT!"  
  
Severus followed him and the scene before him dashed the little hope he had. Sirius was on his knees next to the body of James Potter, at the foot of the stairs. He was desperately trying to check for a pulse and trying to coax James back to life, tears running freely down his cheeks.  
  
There was no blood around the body, and with Voldemort that meant there was no hope for the victim. He obviously used the killing curse. Severus knew that Sirius and James were the closest of the four friends but this was not the time to fall apart.  
  
"Sirius...there's nothing more you can do." Severus said, making his way up the stairs, afraid of what he knew he'd find. He opened up the first three doors in the hall to find nothing. There was only one more door, still slightly ajar.  
  
With trembling hands he pushed the door open and was greeted by the sight of Lily Potter lying sprawled out on the floor, also motionless. He was too late. Pushing back tears, Severus gently rolled the body over and checked for a pulse. There was none.  
  
"Oh gods Lily...." he sobbed, pushing the red hair out of her face. He didn't want to know what happened to the child. A small whimper from the crib behind him almost made him jump right out of his skin. There was no way the child was alive.  
  
Severus crossed the room and pulled down the blanket covering the form lying in the crib to find a perfectly healthy baby staring back at him. That was impossible! Awkwardly, he reached out and pulled the baby up out of the crib, awed. This child succeeded where many full grown, powerful wizards had failed. He had defeated the Dark Lord, and the only thing wrong with him was the lightning shaped gash in his forehead.  
  
That's when he put two and two together. The child wasn't harmed because Lily scarificed herself for him. The curse must have backfired onto Voldemort. A new batch of tears threatened to overflow as he stared down into the face of his former love's child. Severus heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs and Sirius entered the room. He looked at Lily's lifeless body for a moment before turning surprised eyes to Severus and the squirming child in his arms.  
  
"He's...alive?" he asked, his voice devoid of any emotion whatsoever.  
  
"Yes. I don't know how, but he is." Severus said, passing the baby into Sirius' arms. He automatically quieted, looked up at Sirius and smiled, obviously happy to be held by someone familiar.  
  
"Stay here. I'm going back to Hogwarts and tell Dumbledore. Don't move. Someone will be here to help in a few minuets." Severus commanded, and not bothering to wait for a reply apparated back to Hogwarts.  
  
~~**~~  
  
Dumbledore glanced up as Severus burst through the door to his office with a wild look in his eyes.  
  
"Sir, The Potters....they-"  
  
"I know Severus, I know. I'm going to send Hagrid over to get the child and bring him to his relatives." Severus was about to answer when suddenly a thought struck him.  
  
"Oh god....I left the baby with Sirius! Sirius must be the secret keeper he was James best friend-"  
  
"Relax Severus, I doubt you have much reason to fear. Now I know what you have seen tonight must be terrible, now I advise you to try and get some sleep.  
  
~~**~~  
  
"Sleep yeah right, who's he kidding." Severus mumbled as he tossed over in his bed. Every time he closed his eyes he thought of the short time he and Lily spent together and it was almost unbearable.  
  
James and Lily had both saved his life in different ways and when the time came for him to return the favor he failed, and now they were dead. Lily had once told him that he would get his chance to set everything right, and he just lost it. And now, he didn't know how he was going to live with himself.  
  
A/N: Alright I wrote like four chapters and only one person reviewed. I'm a lil peeved but oh well. I'm gonna finish with this story either tonight or tomorrow. There's probably only gonna be like one or two more chapters. By the way, did anyone see that stupid thing on nick news about people brining the harry potter books? That just pisses me off ya know!! Well ne way, if ne1 has any ideas on what I should change the fic's name to lemme know please! Adios! 


	14. Chapter Fourteen

A/N: I don't own ne of the harry potter characters and im not making ne money off this fic.  
  
  
  
Severus Snape sat at the head table in the Great Hall, barely listening to that babbling idiot beside him. He was having trouble keeping his mind set on the start of term feast. His thoughts kept being drawn to the boy at the at the Gryffindor table. The boy with the messy black hair and sparkling green eyes. Yes, he had seen those eyes before. It was Harry Potter, it had to be.  
  
It had definitely caught him by surprise when he saw the boy enter the Great Hall with the rest off the first years, he picked him out immediately. Of course he knew that the boy would be starting school that year, the staff could barely talk about anything else.  
  
Severus wasn't quite sure how he felt about Harry's presence. He had made a habit of not bothering to think or care or feel over the past years. He hid himself behind a wall of anger and self hatred that was much thicker than when Lily had succeeded in bringing it down those many years ago.  
  
It would be easy to hate the boy and not bother to question why he did. Was it because he was jealous that Harry very well could have been his son? That the boy was only alive because his mother made the ultimate sacrifice for him? Everyone would tell him The Potions Master despised him because he despised his father, and they wouldn't be far from the truth.  
  
Severus didn't know how he made it through that night, especially after Harry caught him staring at him. His gaze was so much like his mothers- intense and full of emotion. But somehow he got through it and stalked out of the Great Hall when it was over, not bothering to talk to anyone.  
  
~~**~~  
  
When Severus got back to his rooms he laid down on his overstuffed black leather couch in front of the fireplace and sighed, idly twisting the snake ring on his finger, as he did when he was nervous or lost in thought.  
  
Lily's son's appearance at Hogwarts was definitely making him reminisce and he didn't like to do that too much. He would be seeing the child of the woman he loved on a daily basis and that more than likely, wasn't going to go over too well.  
  
Still twisting the ring, Severus wondered how he was going to treat Harry. He was normally cold and cruel to his students so no questions would be raised if he acted that way towards him. Yet for some reason, he knew it would be hard to do that and questions would be raised if he didn't tear into the Gryffindor as he did with the rest of his students.  
  
Something inside of him said he was approaching the situation all wrong, he wasn't only Lily's son. He was the son of James Potter, the Marauder, the man who ended up with the only woman he really cared for, the one who saved his life and died before he could repay the wizards debt.  
  
Yet Lily had said, some day he would have the chance to make everything right. He failed in saving James and Lily, but he wouldn't fail with Harry. He couldn't repay James personally, but he could repay him in making sure no harm came to his son during his seven years in Hogwarts. And it wouldn't, he'd do his best to make sure of that. But that didn't have to mean he'd be nice to him.  
  
~~**~~  
  
Snape stalked into his first year's Potions class in a foul mood. He was up all the night before thinking and doubting himself, and that didn't do wonders for his already bad attitude. He swept to the front of the class, black robes billowing behind him, and with an almost bored tone began taking role call, pausing at one name on the paper.  
  
"Ah yes, Harry Potter. Our new celebrity." His icy tone even surprised himself and he saw Harry regard him carefully before returning his attention back to the parchment in front of him.  
  
Severus continued on with the lecture he gave almost every first year class he taught. The class, obviously noting that the Potions Master was one not to be crossed, remained totally silent. Suddenly, Severus couldn't contain the urge he had been fighting and whirled around to face Harry, who seemed to be taking notes on a spare piece of parchment.  
  
"Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood." he smiled inwardly when he saw the blank expression cross Harry's face. Apparently the boy had inherited his father's Potions talent.  
  
"I don't know, sir." came the reply. Quiet, polite, just like his mother. No damn it! Don't think of her, think of something else. Think of this stupid child that's only here because his mother so carelessly gave up her own life. The thought made him even angrier than he already was and a sneer crossed his already dark features.  
  
"Clearly fame isn't everything."  
  
~~**~~  
  
Ah Quidditch, Severus hated the word almost as much as he hated the sport and the idiots who played it. At least it was going to be a somewhat exciting game, Slytherin versus Gryffindor. The natural house rivalry had already stricken up and not only the students, but the teachers as well were excited about the upcoming match. However most of Slytherin House spent the day grumbling and complaining about the teams new Seeker, who was of course that damn Potter. Having to see the boy every day was beginning to get easier for Severus, he just showed him impatience, anger, and coldness, and got the same in return.  
  
Severus took his seat in the teachers' section and glanced around the Quidditch stadium. The Gryffindor students were cheering like mad, waving their Gryffindor flags and signs as their house team flew out on their broomsticks. The Slytherin students, a sea of green and silver, did the same. Glancing at the players, Severus easily spotted Potter, who was the smallest one out there due to the fact he was the only first year. He circled the stadium, doing various loops and dives, and turns, warming up for the game. He flew extraordinarily like his father.  
  
The game started and for some reason Severus was drawn into it and kept his eye on Harry, hovering high above the game, keeping an eye out for the snitch. Gryffindor was winning and the Slytherin students were beginning to resort to foul play to win back points. From where he was, it looked like Flint smashed a beater straight into Oliver Wood, sending him crashing to the ground. That of course left the goal wide open. Severus couldn't help but smile. Angelina Johnson was the next victim as a pair of Chasers sent her flying into one of the walls. Now THIS was entertainment.  
  
Suddenly a gasp from the students caught his attention and he looked up to see Harry's broom spinning wildly out of control and thrashing, as if trying to buck him off. What was that idiot child doing? His sensitive hearing however, picked up a small voice muttering quietly and he whipped around in his seat to see Quirril. He was on his feet staring at Harry as were most of the staff. However his eyes were unblinking and was muttering quietly under his breath in Latin. Glancing back to the game he saw the broom had succeeded in throwing Harry off and the boy was hanging by two hands, desperately trying to hang on. Quickly Severus made eye contact and began muttering the counter curse as fast and determined as he could, however the other wizard seemed to notice and put more energy into the curse.  
  
Harry was now hanging by one hand as the broom spun more wildly out of control. Taking a deep breath, Severus focused all his energy onto the boy as he muttered the counter curse louder than before. The broom was beginning to slow and he smiled inwardly, knowing he'd finally caught that bastard doing dark magic right under his nose. Suddenly he felt a rising heat on his leg and looked down to see fire licking it's way up his robes. With a started gasp, his concentration was broken and he fell back into the next row, Knocking various staff members down with him as he tried to extinguish the flames.  
  
When he brought his eyes back to the game, Harry had climbed onto his broom and was now safely whizzing around the Quidditch field again.  
  
"How's that for repaying a debt James? I can tell he's going to be just like you, a constant thorn in my backside." he thought. These seven years were NOT going to be easy.  
  
  
  
~~~THE END~~~  
  
A/N: phew! It's finally over. I may do a sequel some time but I think I'm going to focus on the other fic I was writing "Silver To Bind The Fey." It's a Lupin ficcy *shameless plug lol. Anyway if you are thoroughly upset about this fic ending you can read my sevvy comedy story lol. It's called "Severus' Punishment..Sex Ed!" So go read and enjoy and thanx for everyone who read this!!! I LOVE U ALL lol 


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